You just read the Dvorak homerow.
Welcome to Dvorak.
A tribute to the most elegant keyboard layout ever designed — and the eight keys that started it all.
The Origin Story
How one man's obsession with efficiency created the keyboard layout that refuses to die.
The Birth of Dvorak
Dr. August Dvorak and his brother-in-law Dr. William Dealey patent the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard after years of studying letter frequency, finger physiology, and typing efficiency.
The Research
Dvorak studied the English language exhaustively — letter frequencies, digraphs, hand alternation patterns. He designed a layout where 70% of typing happens on the homerow, compared to QWERTY's ~32%.
Wait, Rewind — Before QWERTY
Christopher Latham Sholes' first typewriter prototypes used a roughly alphabetical layout across two rows. Over the next seven years, he rearranged keys through dozens of iterations — separating typebars that jammed, incorporating feedback from telegraph operators who were early testers. By 1874, the Remington Type 1 shipped with something close to QWERTY. It wasn't one deliberate design. It was a slow mechanical compromise that accidentally became permanent.
The GSA Study (The One Everyone Cites Wrong)
A U.S. Government study by Earle Strong concluded retraining QWERTY typists on Dvorak wasn't cost-effective. This got misinterpreted as "Dvorak isn't better." The study had serious methodological problems, but the damage was done.
Barbara Blackburn
Barbara Blackburn sets the Guinness World Record for fastest typing at 212 WPM (with bursts of 216 WPM). Her weapon of choice? Dvorak. She was so slow on QWERTY she had failed her typing class.
The Digital Renaissance
With software-remappable keyboards, switching to Dvorak becomes trivial. No more physical rearranging — just a system setting. A small but passionate community of developers, writers, and keyboard enthusiasts keeps the flame alive.
Still the 1%
Less than 1% of the typing world uses Dvorak. But those who do? They'll tell you about it. At length. Unprompted. You're reading proof of that right now.
The Great Comparison
Type anything below and watch where your fingers actually go on each layout.
(Spoiler: QWERTY makes you work way harder.)
Dvorak
51% homerowQWERTY
29% homerowWhat's Your Dvorak Name?
Type your name as if on a QWERTY keyboard and see what it becomes on Dvorak.
Warning: some names are better than others.
Type as if on a QWERTY keyboard — see what comes out on the other side.
> THE MICROSOFT FOUR_
// circa 2000-something, Redmond, WA
$ cat origin_story.txt
Eleven of us. Four or five offices? One building. Four of us made a terrible decision that turned out to be the best decision we ever made.
It started the way most questionable tech decisions do — with someone reading a blog post during a meeting. "Did you know there's a keyboard layout that's objectively better than QWERTY?"
It just made SENSE. The math was there to back it up! We can't all be wrong!
// this is what the industry calls "a career-limiting move"
THE DARK PERIOD
The first month was brutal. Typing speed dropped from 80+ WPM to hunt-and-peck levels. Coding and documentation took three times longer. Emails became haiku-length out of pure frustration.
"Can you just type this for me?" echoed down the hall between our offices. The solidarity was the only thing that kept us going — that, and the pure stubborn refusal to admit defeat.
THE OFFICE REBELLION
People were baffled. "You work where, again?" as we typed like we'd never seen a keyboard before. We became a curiosity — people would walk by our offices and watch us struggle-type, like visiting a zoo exhibit labeled "Developers Who Made Poor Life Choices."
This was peak Microsoft — WIMs on Fridays, hallways filled with last month's computers replaced by whatever was newer and shinier, and somewhere in a server room a guy was playing Halo instead of monitoring uptime. It was the kind of era where you could spend a month relearning to type and nobody really noticed.
And then, slowly, the speed came back. And it kept coming. And the comfort — oh, the comfort. Fingers barely leaving the homerow. Alternating hands on common letter pairs. Less strain, less movement, more flow.
THE HUTENOSA ORIGIN
One of us noticed it first: the homerow keys — H U T E N O S A — spelled something. Not a word, exactly, but something that felt like a word. It had a ring to it. Almost phonetic. Like a secret handshake.
"hutenosa.com is available."
Custom domains were all the rage when most were bragging about their unique AOL.com usernames. The domain was registered that afternoon. That was over twenty-five years ago.
All four of us still use Dvorak. Still keep in touch. Still on the homerow. This page? This is the tribute it always deserved.
> connection to server circa-2002 closed_
The Dvorak Speed Test
How fast can you type on Dvorak? Find out and brag about it.
Test your typing speed and see your Dvorak stats.
Try It Right Now
Learn the Dvorak homerow in 60 seconds. No installation required.
Start with the left hand: A O E U. Then the right: H T N S.
Lesson 1 of 6
Left hand homerow
Just start typing — look at the keyboard below if you need help.
The Graveyard of Excuses
Every objection you have, lovingly demolished.
But I'm already fast on QWERTY!
What about keyboard shortcuts? Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V...
Nobody else uses it
I'll be useless on other people's computers
It's not actually proven to be faster
The learning curve is too steep
My company won't let me change my keyboard layout
The Manifesto
We didn't choose the homerow life.
Actually, we literally did.
We believe that a keyboard layout designed by studying actual human hands is better than one designed for a machine that hasn't existed since 1890.
We believe that 70% homerow usage is better than 32%.
We believe that your fingers shouldn't have to run a marathon to type an email.
We believe in alternating hands, in ergonomic rhythm, in the quiet satisfaction of a layout that makes sense.
A O E U I D H T N S
Ten keys. Eight fingers. Home.
The Secret Society
Less than 1% of typists worldwide use Dvorak. Here's the company you'd be keeping.
Press any key and we'll detect your keyboard layout...
Notable Dvorak Users
How to Switch
System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources → Edit → Add (+) → Search "Dvorak" → Add → Select from menu bar
Settings → Time & Language → Language → Preferred language Options → Add a keyboard → United States-Dvorak
Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources → Add → English (Dvorak). Or: setxkbmap dvorak