On-Screen Keyboard.wdgt
This Dashboard widget displays an Apple keyboard having the selected layout. Currently, the U.S. English and Dvorak layouts are available. I created this widget as a reference to aid in learning the Dvorak layout. I was quite surprised to be unable to find any existing Dashboard widgets for this purpose.
Installation and Usage
Just download and then double-click the downloaded file, and follow the prompts. To change the layout or size of the keyboard, click the i-button in the lower right. That’s all there is to it!
Here are the full, formal instructions: Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger is required. If you’re using Safari, click the download link. When the widget download is complete, Show Dashboard, click the Plus sign to display the Widget Bar and click the widget’s icon in the Widget Bar to open it. If you’re using a browser other than Safari, click the download link. When the widget download is complete, unarchive it and place it in /Library/Widgets/ in your home folder. Show Dashboard, click the Plus sign to display the Widget Bar and click the widget’s icon in the Widget Bar to open it.
Updates
Version 1.0.1, August 16, 2007
- Fixed ordering of the < and > key labels. Oops.
- Corrected the alignment of numeric and punctuation keys.
Version 1.0, August 13, 2007
- Three keyboard sizes
- QWERTY and Dvorak layouts
- One visual style (mid-2000s Apple keyboard)
Known Bugs
- Images aren’t pre-loaded, so the widget may “flicker” when resizing
Future Plans
- Animated resizing
- A tiny size selection
- Multiple keyboard designs (background images)
- A choice to automatically select the layout based on the current input language
- Automatic updates
Alternatives
I haven’t seen any other Dashboard widgets similar to this. But there are some widgets for other environments. I haven’t tried any of these out, I just wanted to mention them: Dvorak vs. Qwerty, an Opera Widget, compares the distance your fingers travel using the different layouts. There is a Dvorak Simplified Keyboard Yahoo widget for Windows users.