Preface
Standards development within the Information Technology sector is harmonized with international standards development. Through the CSA Technical Committee on Information Technology (TCIT), Canadians serve as the Canadian Advisory Committee (CAC) on ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee 1 on Information Technology (ISO/IEC JTC1) for the Standards Council of Canada (SCC), the ISO member body for Canada and sponsor of the Canadian National Committee of the IEC. Also, as a member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Canada participates in the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee (ITU-T).
Scope
lSO/IEC 9995 specifies various characteristics of keyboards used by information technology equipment (ITE), e.g. a) personal computers, workstations, computer terminals, VDTs (visual display terminals), typewriters, etc., having an alphanumeric keyboard; b) calculators, telephones and automated teller machines having a numeric keypad.
The keyboard defined in lSO/IEC 9995 is the conventional linear keyboard, which is physically divided into sections and the sections into zones within which the keys are laid out.
In this part of lSO/IEC 9995, the sections of the keyboard are identified and the general shape and relative placement of the sections are specified. Spacing of keys and physical characteristics are covered in this part of lSO/IEC 9995, as are the principles governing the placement of characters and symbols on keys.
This part of ISO/IEC 9995 specifies a key numbering system which applies to all types of numeric, alphanumeric and composite keyboards of ITE.
This part of lSO/IEC 9995 specifies the principles governing the placement of characters and symbols on keys used on all types of numeric, alphanumeric and composite keyboards of ITE. Although the keyboard defined by lSO/IEC 9995 may be used for different languages, the specifications are written as applying to Latin languages with a character path from left to right and a line progression from top to bottom.
The primary layout within the alphanumeric zone is established in most countries by a national standard or by national usage. Allocation guidelines are provided in lSO/IEC 9995-2. Complementary layouts are specified in lSO/lEC 9995-3.
This part of lSO/IEC 9995 defines characteristics related to interface 1 in Figure 1.
lSO/IEC 9995 specifies the allocation of functions (graphic characters and/or control functions) to keys. The graphic characters and the control functions have been given common names intended to be familiar to the users of a keyboard. In general, keyboards are not expected to generate coded control functions, but the operation of a control function key may cause a number of coded control functions to appear in data interchange to achieve the desired effect.
The effects of those keys that affect keyboard states are specified in other parts of lSO/IEC 9995.