/norwerty

ANSI keyboard layout with Norwegian letters

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The Norwerty Keyboard Layout

Norwerty Keyboard Layout

The Norwerty Keyboard Layout is a software keyboard layout for efficient typing in Norwegian on US keyboards.

I considered naming it NANSI, but settled on this name since it is based on the Swerty keyboard layout by Johan E. Gustafsson. See also Dwerty.

The design goal for the Norwerty layout is to retain as much as possible of the standard US layout (also known as the ANSI keyboard layout), while adding the keys Æ, Ø, and Å from the standard Norwegian layout. This alternative software layout is especially useful if you are working on a US keyboard and want to write in Norwegian. Arguably, Norwerty is a better choice than the standard Norwegian layout even if you are working on a Norwegian keyboard, as it incorporates more of the superior key arrangement of the US layout. With the standard Norwegian layout, many frequently used symbols are surprisingly inconvenient to type, such as @ in email addresses, / in web addresses, and $ in programming. These conventions were set by people who used the US layout where these symbols can be typed conveniently. The Norwerty layout makes it possible to enjoy this convenience while typing in Norwegian.

The idea is to retain most of the US layout, but to have the keys Æ, Ø, and Å in their same positions as in the standard Norwegian layout, replacing the ;, ', and [ keys in the US layout. The ] key is replaced by a dead key for acute and grave accents. The replaced keys from the US layout are reached by pressing AltGr and the original key. This basic layout has been altered somewhat in order to suit Mac, Linux, and Windows environments.

Norwerty for Windows

Norwerty for Windows

Installation instructions

  1. Download Norwerty for Windows (under "Assets")

  2. Unzip the zip file and run setup.exe to install the keyboard layout.

If you need to modify Norwerty for Windows, you can do so by editing Norwerty.klc with Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator.

Norwerty for Linux

Norwerty for Linux

Installation instructions

  1. Add the contents of no.txt to the end of the file /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/no

  2. Look up the following section in the file /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/evdev.xml:

    <layout>
      <configItem>
        <name>no</name>

        <shortDescription>no</shortDescription>
        <description>Norwegian</description>
        <languageList>
          <iso639Id>nor</iso639Id>
          <iso639Id>nob</iso639Id>
          <iso639Id>nno</iso639Id>
        </languageList>
      </configItem>
      <variantList>
  1. Add the following variant block after the line <variantList>:
        <variant>
          <configItem>
            <name>norwerty</name>
            <description>Norwerty</description>
          </configItem>
        </variant>
  1. Finally, after the line ! variant in the file /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/evdev.lst add the following line:
  norwerty          no: Norwerty

Now Norwerty should show up as one of the alternative keyboard layouts for Norwegian.

Norwerty for macOS

Installation instructions

  1. Download Norwerty for macOS (under "Assets")

  2. Run the installer to install the keyboard layout.