Support for Alternative Layouts
This is a summary of how alternative layouts have been supported by kits such as Colevrak and Homing. It is not a discussion of alt layout performance and development, but if that interests you I highly recommend starting with Pascal Getreuer’s A guide to alt keyboard layouts (why, how, which one?). It’s a concise and comprehensive overview with links to some great sites that go deeper. He also has a separate Links about keyboards page. The Keyboard layouts doc he recommends explains layout goals and metrics in detail, summarizing the alt layouts discussed here as well as more than one hundred others. Sculpted-profile The majority of custom keycap sets are sculpted-profile (Cherry, SA, MT3, KAT, etc. - more on profiles generally here) so let’s start there. Because each row has a unique keycap shape, alt layouts require a unique keycap for each legend that moves off its QWERTY row. At first there were two The Dvorak layout was patented in 1936 by August Dvorak & William L....
Apr 23, 2024
If you want an example of what I mean, just look at keycaps for alps switches: even though it is the second most popular switch platform and is just as old as the cherry platform people still struggle to find keycaps for their salvaged alps or Matias switch keyboards. Razer is popular, but given its proprietary nature and how new the platform is I don't think we'll see many key cap sets unless Razer makes it themselves.
If anyone thinks differently or if there's any inaccuracies here please correct me, but I don't want Braden to get his hopes up.