One handed coding -- tablet, special keyboard, one-handed typing?

user_223485 0
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I recently broke my finger and can now only type with my right hand. This has seriously impacted my typing speed. Since I write software for a living, this is a serious problem.

I have been doing some research, but haven't found a great solution yet. Here's what I've come up with:

  1. Wacom tablet + hand writing recognition software. Is it possible to write code with hand writing recognition software?

  2. one handed keyboards -- I have only found expensive (> $100) keyboards. These look like they have a steep learning curve.

  3. one handed typing instructions: http://www.aboutonehandtyping.com/manualcompare.html. Does this really work?

What do the one handed coders out there use?

pen-tablet tablet keyboard
9 Answers

If you're a two-hand touch typist, the answer is a "mirrored" layout.

Mirroring lets you begin touch-typing with one hand almost immediately. Pretty crazy how easy it is. Based on the muscle memory you already have.

If you're typing with your right hand:

  • Type all right-hand keys normally.
  • Don't type left hand keys. Instead type the same motion (but mirrored) with your right hand.

So if you want to type:

  • "D" -> type "K" instead.
  • "W" -> type "O" instead.
  • "S" -> type "L" instead.

Same row of keyboard, same finger, same motion. Your muscle memory can already do this... kind of like how you're unable to pat your head and rub your belly at the same time. The wires in your brain are crossing somewhere.

Software to mirror the keyboard as described above:

Hold Spacebar to mirror:

Predictive Text; Automatic Mirroring

user_12653930

Regarding one-handed keyboards, I've tried using a frogpad and found it ok for typing text, but unusable for coding. The symbols require several consecutive key presses and I found it impossible to use shortcuts reliably. It was too easy to hit the wrong key and get it stuck in the wrong mode.

user_2650480
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