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August Dvorak's Typewriting Behavior Introduces the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard

1932 to 1936
One of three original Dvorak typewriters
Creative Commons LicenseJeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative Commons
One of three original Dvorak keyboard typewriters created by August Dvorak and William Dealy circa 1832. This example is preserved in the Computer History Museum, Mountain View, California. Whereabouts of the other two are unknown.
In 1932 educational psychologist and professor of education at the University of Washington in Seattle August Dvorak and his brother-in-law William Dealey invented the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard Typewriter. After building three examples of the typewriter, the two patented the keyboard in 1936, and along with Nellie Merrick and Gertrude Ford, wrote a book entitled Typewriting Behavior promoting the advantages of their system over the QWERTY keyboard. The advantages of the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard are very well known, and are often favored by programmers. Dvorak proponents claim that it requires less finger motion and as a result reduces errors, increases typing speed, reduces repetitive strain injuries, or is simply more comfortable than QWERTY. Perhaps for this reason most major computer operating systems, including Windows, OS X, Linux, Android, Chrome OS, and BSD, allow a user to switch to the Dvorak keyboard in software. This capability has resulted in a far greater number of Dvorak keyboard users today than in the days of mechanical or electric typewriters.

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