this post was submitted on 13 Feb 2026
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ErgoMechKeyboards

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Ergonomic, split and other weird keyboards

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Posts must be of/about keyboards that have a clear delineation between the left and right halves of the keyboard, column stagger, or both. This includes one-handed (one half doesn't exist, what clearer delineation is that!?)

i.e. no regular non-split¹ row-stagger and no non-split¹ ortholinear²

¹ split meaning a separation of the halves, whether fixed in place or entirely separate, both are fine.
² ortholinear meaning keys layed out in a grid

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How do you like to bind your arrow keys, and why?

Ergo boards don't typically have dedicated arrow clusters, so we're left to bind them on some alternate layers one way or another.

Here are two prevalent layouts, along with some initial thoughts:

Homerow

Binding them linearly to a homerow on some layer.

Pros

  • Arrows directly underneath your fingertips

Cons

  • Less intuitive
  • Pinky may be weaker when going right repeatedly

Pyramid

Bind arrows in a traditional pyramid shape, likely based on a homerow as well.

Pros

  • Familiar layout
  • Extra key available for pinky, e.g. a tab might be handy

Cons

  • Finger movement required for up arrow
  • Takes space on the row above, which might matter if you'd like to have a full row of other things there

Post pic is original art by the author, public domain, commission queue is already full.

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[–] wjrii@lemmy.world 3 points 13 hours ago

The inverted T is god-damned masterpiece, regardless of where it's palced. Your middle finger is already longer than the others and naturally rests closer to the top edge of the down arrow, requiring a minimal amount of movement to get to the up arrow. This is why it outlasted cross-nav and various godawful clusters or shift-pairs like on early 8-bit home computers, and why it never faced a serious challenge from layout-complicating diamond-nav or "does it exactly backwards" T-nav. It's also more intuitive than 4-key linear nav, though fair play to you if your brain can make it work. I do tend to think that some folks make a commitment to staying on the home row that goes way beyond the strict needs of carpal tunnel health, but I'm a row-stagger heathen so take my thoughts for whatever they're worth.

[–] gid@piefed.blahaj.zone 9 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

I'm pretty used to hjkl navigation from using vim. When I first started learning vim it felt weird but it's natural now.

[–] Tiuku@sopuli.xyz 3 points 16 hours ago

Yeah I get the feeling that this line of navigation originates from vim and friends.

[–] markstos@lemmy.world 1 points 15 hours ago

And HJKL doesn’t use the pinkie.

Pointer finger covers both H and J.

[–] Grass@sh.itjust.works 2 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

1000026899
I play stepmania and sometimes edit maps that are good but probably impossible on feet

[–] FlatFootFox@lemmy.world 4 points 15 hours ago

I managed to quit vi once, I’m not recreating that experience again. IJKL all the way. Same hand and positions as the arrow keys, just without having to move your arm.

[–] Khanzarate@lemmy.world 3 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Dang I can't believe the commission queue is full already. Must be drowning in work.

[–] Tiuku@sopuli.xyz 2 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Yes. It's imperative that I micro optimise my arrow keys to make it through this.

[–] Khanzarate@lemmy.world 1 points 7 hours ago

Appreciate the optimization being open source at least, helping everyone out.

[–] Phlimy@jlai.lu 2 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

I know I'm the odd one out, but I have the arrow keys on my main layer, linearly just below the homerow, replacing the usual punctuation bits. All the punctuation lives on my layers, just makes more sense to my brain :p

[–] Tiuku@sopuli.xyz 2 points 14 hours ago

Interesting! This is also reminiscent of the traditional "somewhere down and right" arrow cluster placement.

[–] FiskFisk33@startrek.website 7 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

I just wish wasd had never become the standard, esdf had been so much better for touch typers

[–] jet@hackertalks.com 1 points 19 hours ago

Just move all the keys one column to the right ..

[–] jet@hackertalks.com 3 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

ESDF! You don't have to move your hand for gaming

[–] Tiuku@sopuli.xyz 3 points 19 hours ago

I think it's fairly common to have a gaming layer with wasd there already so this would indeed be a natural extension.

[–] alx@piefed.blahaj.zone 3 points 20 hours ago

I prefer pyramid shape, and in order to not waste space around, I generally put Home and End around the Up arrow

[–] mehrshad@piefed.social 2 points 20 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Tiuku@sopuli.xyz 2 points 18 hours ago

I've been using the right hand variant of this, but for no other reason than that just happening to be the case on the layout I started with. Becoming conscious of this was the reason for the making this post ^^

[–] Tiuku@sopuli.xyz 0 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Is anyone using the linear style for mouse emulation? I find this to be way more difficult than just moving the caret around text.

[–] tensor_nightly69@lemmy.world 1 points 13 hours ago

Yeah, I am on my Ergodox EZ. One layer has hjkl for arrow keys, and another has them for mouse movement, with u for left-click and o for right-click.