How to Use an Ergonomic Keyboard

An ergonomic keyboard may improve your typing experience if you experience pain or numbness in your wrists or hands at a traditional keyboard. The keys are arranged in a way designed to put less stress on your wrists and hands. You'll benefit more from your ergonomic keyboard if you adjust it correctly before use.

Things You'll Need

• ergonomic keyboard
• computer

Instructions

1. 

   Start by identifying your ergonomic keyboard's connector. Keyboards for PCs typically have either a USB connector or a PS/2 connector, which you will need to plug into an appropriate jack in your computer. If your keyboard has a PS/2 connector (often color-coded purple), you will need to shut your computer off before connecting the keyboard.

2. Connect the keyboard to your computer. A PS/2 keyboard jack will usually be on the back of your computer and will often be labeled with a small picture of a keyboard beside it. If your keyboard connector is USB, you may plug the keyboard into any USB jack (you will find these on the back of the computer, but there may be additional USB jacks on the front of a desktop computer or the side of a laptop).

3. 

   Adjust the keyboard leveler for comfort. The leveler is a fold-down flap or pair of tabs on the underside of most ergonomic keyboards. The leveler gives you two options for the angle of the keyboard. Attempt both positions and set the leveler to the one that best meets your needs.

4. 

   Place your computer chair in the position it is in while you're working at the computer. Now position the ergonomic keyboard's central divider directly in front of front of you, so it's aligned with the mid-line of your body. Your right and left hands should each be about the same distance from the central division of the keyboard, even if that puts the number pad far to your side.

5. Sit a comfortable distance away from your ergonomic keyboard and begin to type.

Tips & Warnings

• Give yourself time to adjust. The slightly different positioning of the keys on an ergonomic keyboard takes some getting used to, and you may feel a little strange or hit some wrong keys at first. Some people adjust to an ergonomic keyboard in minutes, while others may take a few hours.

• If you've connected your ergonomic keyboard and find that it doesn't work, make sure you have it plugged into a working jack. There will usually be at least two identical-looking jacks for either type of keyboard connector. If the keyboard still doesn't work, re-start the computer. After the computer is all the way up (showing the Windows login screen or similar), it may take up to two minutes for certain USB keyboards to begin to operate the first time you use them. Simply having a wrist-rest does not make a keyboard ergonomic. Please be sure you've purchased a keyboard that meets your needs.