AZERTY

AZERTY /əˈzɜːrti/ is a specific layout for the characters of the Latin alphabet on typewriter keys and computer keyboards. The layout takes its name from the first six letters to appear on the first row of alphabetical keys. Like the German QWERTZ layout, it is modelled on the English QWERTY layout. It is used by most French speakers based in Europe, though France and Belgium each have their own national variations on the layout. Luxembourg and Switzerland use the Swiss QWERTZ keyboard. Most of the residents of Quebec, the mainly French-speaking province of Canada, use a QWERTY keyboard that has been adapted to the French language, although the government of Quebec and the Government of Canada stipulate and use the Multilingual Standard keyboard CAN/CSA Z243.200-92.

The competing layouts devised for French (the ZHJAYSCPG layout put forward in 1907, Claude Marsan's 1976 layout, the 2002 Dvorak-fr and the 2005 Bépo layout) have won only limited recognition.

The AZERTY layout appeared in France in the last decade of the 19th century as a variation on American QWERTY typewriters. Its exact origin is unknown. At the start of the 20th century, the French “ZHJAY” layout, created by Albert Navarre, failed to break into the market for the simple reason that secretaries were already accustomed to the QWERTY and AZERTY layouts.

In France the AZERTY layout is the de facto norm for keyboards. Nowhere does this layout feature as an officially recognized French standard. However, in 1976, a QWERTY layout adapted to the French language was put forward as an experimental standard (NF XP E55-060) by the French national organization for standardization. This standard made provision for a temporary adaptation period during which the letters A, Q, Z and W could be positioned as in the traditional AZERTY layout. No provision, though, was made for adapting the M key, even on a temporary basis. As of January 2016 the French Culture Ministry is looking to replace the AZERTY layout with one that will decrease the chance of typing mistakes.

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