Hokkien/Keyboard

Existing Resources

Taiwanese Peh-Oe-Ji Keyboard

• Taiwanese Hokkien keyboard based on Peh-Oe-Ji Romanization system. This keyboard has a standard QWERTY layout and uses a series of keys to switch between different tones. For example, to enter a tone mark above a letter, simply type the letter followed by the appropriate key for tone marking.
• Compatible with Windows only

Taiwanese Characters Keyboard

• This Taiwanese keyboard is modeled after the Bopomofo language system, which is based off the traditional characters of Mandarin. The Bopomofo keyboard uses a combination of QWERTY, however, when the user presses the shift key, each key on the keyboard also has a unique Mandarin character which is accessible. They keyboard layout also includes four tones.
• Compatible in Mac OS, Windows PC, and Linux.

Microsoft Traditional Chinese Characters Keyboard

• This keyboard gives the users the option to choose between Bopomofo or Changjie layouts. Designed by Microsoft, this keyboard offers a pop up window that allows users to simultaneously see which strokes match with what is being typed in real time. This keyboard has a romanization system for the Changjie layout and a Mandarin character for the bopomofo layout.
• Compatible with Windows only

Keyboard Layout

{{kbdrow1|

~
`

◌̃

%
!

 

@
?

#
/

^
(

*
)

_
-

+
=

..
.

....
...

......
.....

+
=

       

<
,

>
.

G
g

 

W
w

E
e

S
s

T
t

Y
y

U
u

I
i

O
o

P
p

{
[

}
]

|
\

        

A
a

S
s

D
d

Z
z

V
v

B
b

N
n

M
m

G
g

H
h

K
k

L
l

:
;

"
'

◌̈
◌́

Justification

I modeled the Taiwanese Hokkien keyboard off of Microsoft's Keyboard layout for the Cangjie input method. Each key on this keyboard maps to a specific letter key on the QWERTY keyboard. One thing that was challenging about this assignment was that there was not a standardized Romanization system used in Taiwan. The earliest version is Pe̍h-ōe-jī, which was developed by Western missionaries in the 1900s. Consequently, because I found the most resources for Pe̍h-ōe-jī language keyboards, which was based off the Latin alphabet Romanization system, I decided to use that as the basis for this assignment. The way in which I designed my keyboard input mechanism was based off the 5 different tones in Taiwanese language. Since Taiwanese Hokkien was a derivation of Mandarin Chinese, I saw some parallels between the number of tones used in both languages. To establish consistency between both languages, I wanted to utilize the keyboard so that when users typed on it, they could see a pop up box that corresponded to their desired tone for each character, based off a numerical system. Most of all as I was designing this keyboard, I was thinking about accessibility.