Legend Preferences for ISO TypistsThe ISO layout, with its larger Enter key and its short left shift, has posed a number of puzzling questions to keycap designers and vendors. ISO users are a large enough portion of the community that they ought not be neglected, but ISO layouts themselves are so varied that it's difficult to provide much more than a minimum of physical support to ISO users.
This survey intends to gather a deeper understanding of ISO layout users' legend preferences. A potential goal, if possible, will be to use this data to come up with a priority list of keys for a sort of "Frankenstein ISO" approach that yields partial (but still ostensibly useful) legend compatibility with a wider range of ISO layouts than what is currently provided with the default US layout.
FAQWhy do you need me to sign in?That's solely to allow Google to filter out repeat responses. I neither receive nor collect any identification from the form.
I don't see the normal option for my keyboard in your choices?Note that most of these questions are structured to specifically look at what you, as an ISO user, would use
in lieu of the default US keys. If your layout already uses the default US option for the keys in the question, simply answer "Would not use" for all of the options.
My layout's key is missing.Unfortunately I couldn't cover
everything. If any of the options shown seem acceptable to you as potential substitutes, mark them accordingly. If not, mark everything as "Would not use."
UGH, WHY DON'T YOU JUST DO FULL UK LAYOUT?That may be the best answer here. I'm not sure. The trouble I've so far run into is that while the UK mechanical keyboard community is indeed very active on social media, they may actually be overrepresented relative to their actual buying habits. I absolutely do want UK users' responses, and I have nothing against the UK. It's just that when you
can isolate demand for ISO in general versus the UK alpha legends
specifically, the trend doesn't look so hot for the Brits. For example, for my current keycap GB, the base kit includes UK ISO by default, and I have a separate NorDe child kit. I also have distinct UK and EU proxies. But right now, that NorDe
child kit is outselling
base kits in the UK by a factor of 3:1 or 4:1. Similar trends were seen in KAT Napoleonic.
The UK is one of the least expensive ISO layouts, but it's also one of the least
representative of the larger ISO-using community. It's a difficult puzzle to solve.