BasicsThe Dvorak keyboard layout was invented as an alternative to the Qwerty keyboard layout which is standard on almost all computers. The idea behind the dvorak keyboard was to arrange the keyboard keys based on the frequency of the letter in the english language.  This quicknote will assist with using the dvorak keyboard layout on a Windows Vista machine.
Configure the Dvorak Keyboard
  1. Click Start
  2. Click Control Panel
    • If you control panel displays a list of about 10 icons, click Classic View on the left side of the window
  3. Click Ease of Access Center
  4. Click Make the keyboard easier to use towards the bottom of the window
  5. Click Add a Dvorak keyboard and change other keyboard input settings towards the bottom of the window
  6. Click Change keyboards...
  7. In the list of Installed Services, click Keyboard in the tree under the preferred language for the computer
  8. Click Add...
  9. Check either of the 3 Dvorak keyboards listed under English (United States)
    • United States-Dvorak
    • United States-Dvorak for left hand
    • United States-Dvorak for right hand
  10. Click OK
  11. Click OK
Once these steps have been completed, the Lanage Toolbar will be placed in the taskbar that runs along the bottom of the screen with a keyboard icon.  By clicking on the Keyboard icon of the language Toolbar you will be able to toggle between all of the keyboard layouts for the computer.  You can also toggle through the keyboards by pressing the default keyboard shortcut: Left Alt + Shift.
Changing the Keyboard Shortcut for Toggling the Keyboard Layout

  1. Click Start
  2. Click Control Panel
    • If you control panel displays a list of about 10 icons, click Classic View on the left side of the window
  3. Click Ease of Access Center
  4. Click Make the keyboard easier to use towards the bottom of the window
  5. Click Add a Dvorak keyboard and change other keyboard input settings towards the bottom of the window
  6. Click Change keyboards...
  7. Click Advanced Keyboard Settings tab
  8. Under 'Hot keys for input languages', click Between input languages
  9. Click Change Key Sequence
  10. Click the desired key combination
This is on a per application basis.  For every application that you want to switch the keyboard layout, you will have to use this keyboard shortcut
Changing the Default Keyboard Layout
  1. Click Start
  2. Click Control Panel
    • If you control panel displays a list of about 10 icons, click Classic View on the left side of the window
  3. Click Ease of Access Center
  4. Click Make the keyboard easier to use towards the bottom of the window
  5. Click Add a Dvorak keyboard and change other keyboard input settings towards the bottom of the window
  6. Click Change keyboards...
  7. Select the appropriate keyboard layout under 'Default input language'.
This setting takes affect after the login screen.