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The AZERTY keyboard is similar to QWERTY, but with the Q and W keys swapped for A and Z. It is commonly used in France and Belgium, with variations. The layout was based on the QWERTY system, which was designed to prevent typewriter keys from jamming. Other keyboard systems, such as DVORAK, have been developed for better key placement. The French AZERTY keyboard includes diacritical marks and dead keys for French language characters. The layout also varies between operating systems, requiring special software for missing symbols.
An AZERTY keyboard is very similar to the ubiquitous QWERTY keyboard, except that the Q and W keys have been swapped for the A and Z keys, respectively. It is called an AZERTY keyboard because, like the QWERTY keyboard, the first six letters in the first row of alphabetic keys write “AZERTY”. This type of computer keyboard is commonly used in France and Belgium, with slight variations between the two.
The original QWERTY layout computer keyboards are the descendants of manual typewriters, patented in 1868 by mechanical engineer Christopher Latham Sholes. After much experimentation and adjustment, Sholes strategically placed the keys in what is now the common QWERTY keyboard layout, to prevent manual typewriter keys from jamming together when pressed. When the computer met the computer keyboard in the late 1940s, engineers kept the familiar QWERTY system.
As typewriters have lost ground and computers have become more common, computer users have pursued better key placement instead of the usual QWERTY keyboards. DVORAK and AZERTY keyboards are examples of some of the various keyboard systems in use. The AZERTY keyboard builds heavily on the traditional QWERTY layout, altering the placement of the keys only slightly. Keyboards with the AZERTY arrangement are mainly used in France, Belgium, Lithuania and various French-speaking countries in North Africa, which have their own modifications for various voice symbols and function keys.
The French AZERTY keyboard system includes individual letter keys with specific diacritical marks, such as the French ç and é. “Dead keys,” or keys that produce no characters until another key is pressed, enter other diacritical marks common to the French language. This is different from the QWERTY keyboard, where you need access to special function keys or a special character map to include letters.
The AZERTY keyboard layout also differs slightly between various operating systems. For example, Windows® computers don’t have the common œ symbol, but Linux systems do. Uppercase letters with diacritical marks, such as É, Ç, and Œ are not present in the Windows® AZERTY keyboard layout. Special drivers or computer software may be required to provide patches for the missing symbols.
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