Keyboard Layouts MOC
Three weeks into owning a ZSA Voyager, I realised the default QWERTY layout was missing ~, had Esc in an awkward spot, and generally fought against Vim usage. A forum post led to Pascal Getreuer’s articles on symbol layers and alternative layouts, which led to the community’s Keyboard Layouts Doc (3rd Edition) — a 19-chapter deep dive into the theory and practice of keyboard layout design.
This MOC collects the notes distilled from that rabbit hole.
Start here
- Touch Typing and Finger Assignment — Home row, finger columns, and why columnar boards like the Voyager change the game.
- Angle Mod — A technique for row-stagger keyboards. Irrelevant for the Voyager, but you’ll see it referenced everywhere.
- Keyboard Layout Metrics — The vocabulary: SFB, SFS, scissors, rolls, alternation, redirects. You need these to read any layout comparison.
Choosing a layout
- Layout Design Philosophy — The five categories of layout design (Colemak-like, In-roll, High Roll, 3-Roll, Alternation) and how to decide which suits you.
- Thumb Keys in Layout Design — Placing letters on thumb keys. Directly relevant to the Voyager’s 2-key thumb clusters.
- Colemak DH — The safe default. Largest community, built-in ZSA Oryx support, solid all-around stats.
- Layout Candidates Compared — Side-by-side comparison of Colemak DH, Sturdy, Graphite, Canary, and Recurva.
My keyboard
ZSA Voyager — Physical setup, noise reduction (O-rings), and when to switch layouts.
Source
Keyboard Layouts Doc (3rd Edition) — The community reference document this knowledge was distilled from.