User:Slim1/Final project
Code
The code is available on my public github repository.
Description
Approach
I chose the keyboard layout project. I developed installable Kalmyk keyboard layouts for three different operating systems: Linux, Windows, and MacOS. For Linux, I created a English-keyboard based phonetic layout; for Windows and MacOS, I created a phonetic layout and a Tatar-based layout.
I used SIL's Ukelele to create the MacOS keyboard.
I used the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator to create the Windows keyboard.
I created and edited an xkb file in Linux to create the Linux keyboard.
Design Principles
The English phonetic layout is for non-native speakers and learners of Kalmyk who are unfamiliar with the Russian keyboard layout. For the phonetic layouts, I tried to stay as consistent with the English keyboard layout as possible, mapping the Cyrillic characters to the position of the equivalent-sounding English characters. For Cyrillic characters without an English counterpart, I either placed them near the closest-sounding English keys, or placed them near related Cyrillic characters. I also tried to preserve the location of important punctuation keys in the English layout.
_layout.png)
The Tatar-based layout is for Kalmyk speakers with little knowledge of English. The official xkb Kalmyk layout in Linux is equal to the Russian layout, with the six additional letters in Kalmyk added on the number row. This is convenient for Kalmyk speakers who frequently type in Russian, as it allows the user to type in both languages without switching keyboards. However, this is also inconvenient because the six letters that are not present in Russian are used quite frequently in Kalmyk. The new layout attempted to remedy this problem. It was closely based on the Linux Tatar layout, as they use the equal set of characters. The Tatar layout also does not differ too much from the Russian layout, which will make it easier for people who are used to the Russian keyboard to learn this layout. Once again, I placed important punctuations in accessible locations.
Evaluation
- Phonetic keyboard
- I used a prototype version of the phonetic keyboard - a layout I created when the only exposure I had to the language and orthography was looking up the alphabet - throughout the semester. Thus, it did not take me long to become accustomed to this new phonetic version. Some variables to note: I do not speak the language, but am reasonably familiar with the orthography; I am the designer of the keyboard. In typing a random section of corpus of 50 words, the average across three tries were:
- time spent typing: 109.4 sec
- number of referrals to the layout display: 2.8
- typos (number of words typed incorrectly): 7.6
