I switched to using the Dvorak keyboard layout several years ago and haven’t looked back. Never focused much on typing speed but I feel very well with Dvorak in terms of it reducing the amount of finger movement necessary.
When I switched I bought a TypeMatrix 2030 USB with two skins — one with Dvorak layout printed on it and one that was all black. Used the printed skin for like a week or so before switching to the black skin. Had no idea where almost any keys were but this forced me to learn where the keys were very quickly. Only took about three days from not knowing where any keys were to being able to touch type Dvorak quite well.
After having used the TypeMatrix keyboard and Dvorak layout for many years I finally found a mechanical keyboard that looked very compelling. I read about it a bit and decided to go for it and am very glad I did. The ErgoDox EZ Shine. It’s programmable so I defined a Dvorak-based layout for it that was similar to the layout of the TypeMatrix. One of the best things I ever did was to buy the ErgoDox EZ Shine keyboard, it’s great :D
When I switched I bought a TypeMatrix 2030 USB with two skins — one with Dvorak layout printed on it and one that was all black. Used the printed skin for like a week or so before switching to the black skin. Had no idea where almost any keys were but this forced me to learn where the keys were very quickly. Only took about three days from not knowing where any keys were to being able to touch type Dvorak quite well.
After having used the TypeMatrix keyboard and Dvorak layout for many years I finally found a mechanical keyboard that looked very compelling. I read about it a bit and decided to go for it and am very glad I did. The ErgoDox EZ Shine. It’s programmable so I defined a Dvorak-based layout for it that was similar to the layout of the TypeMatrix. One of the best things I ever did was to buy the ErgoDox EZ Shine keyboard, it’s great :D
My layout: https://configure.ergodox-ez.com/keyboard_layouts/qppwjy/edi...