An Alternative Keyboard for Typists with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

The de-facto standard QWERTY keyboard was developed over a hundred years ago and is one of the few visual display terminal (VDT) workstation components that has not made the same technological strides as the rest of the workstation components. It is this lack of advancement that has caused the QWERTY keyboard to become suspect in causing repetitive strain injuries (RSIs) such as carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Keyboard and mouse operations require unnatural physical positioning of the arms, hands, and fingers; in typical operations elbows are flexed and wrists are ulnarly deviated, pronated, and extended (Duncan & Ferguson, 1974). Such positions put operators at risk of developing cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs). CTDs are caused from continuous repetitive motions of the hand, wrist, and arm. In extreme cases, these compromising positions can cause severe wrist trauma such as CTS as well as muscle strains in the shoulders, neck, and arms of the typist.