Ban the CAPS LOCK key?!?

imported ism

Posted Sunday, 27 August 2006, 07:18 HST @637

Engadget reports on a Dutch user’s campaign to remove the CAPS LOCK key from the standard keyboard layout. You can read his blog at http://capsoff.blogspot.com/

This is a fine xample of a usability issue. Mac OS and Windows will prompt a user if CAPS LOCK is on while they are in a password field.

I do use CAPS LOCK once in a while to leave quick comments or reminders for myself as I’m writing a long document.

But the CAPS LOCK key is a necessity for some users. Removing the key seems like an extreme solution. Remapping the keyboard is easy, and we’ve been doing this for years to support multiple languages.

I remember when Microsoft added the Windows and property keys to the standard keyboard in 1995. It took a couple of years, but most manufacturers added these keys to the left and right of the space bar.

I still see laptop keyboards that place these two keys in odd corners. Again, it’s a usability issue for me. Fortunately, Honolulu has a couple of well-stocked computer stores, so I can check out computers and their keyboards before I recommend products to clients and friends.