Keyboard layout

Assuming the keytops on your computer keyboard only have standard Roman characters printed on them, when you are using the Ukrainian input language you will need a method of determining which key to press to enter a given Ukrainian character.

Note that, because the Ukrainian alphabet has 33 letters compared with 26 in English, 7 of the Ukrainian letters have to be associated with keys which are normally used for punctuation marks or other non-alphabet symbols. This means that, when you switch to Ukrainian input, the positions of some non-alphabet symbols are also changed.

On-screen keyboard

Built into Windows XP is an On-Screen Keyboard. This can be opened via Start > All Programs > Accessories > Accessibility. When the On-Screen Keyboard appears, use the Keyboard menu to select the options which most closely match the layout of your physical keyboard. When you switch to the Ukrainian input language (as described in Configuring your computer) and move your mouse (once) over the On-Screen Keyboard, it will show the Ukrainian keyboard layout. You can then enter Ukrainian characters either by clicking on the appropriate icons on the On-Screen Keyboard, or by using the On-Screen Keyboard as a visual guide and pressing the appropriate keys on the physical keyboard.

If the operating system on your computer does not support the On-Screen Keyboard, you can use an approximate online equivalent such as can be found at www.gate2home.com. In this case you enter your text into the web page and then copy and paste it where you need it.

Keytop labels

To help you enter Ukrainian text faster via the physical keyboard you can fix Ukrainian keytop labels to the keys on your physical keyboard. These are transparent self-adhesive labels with the Ukrainian letters typically in the bottom right-hand corner of each label. When a label is fixed to the appropriate key, the English-language character in the top left-hand corner of the key remains visible. You can use the On-Screen Keyboard to determine where each label needs to be fixed.

To find an online supplier of labels you can search for “Ukrainian keytop labels” or “Ukrainian keyboard labels” on the web. Alternatively, if you or someone you know is visiting Ukraine, you can get a set there. Be careful to ensure you get a set of labels which contains all 33 characters of the Ukrainian alphabet.

Footnote

The following points apply to particular characters when you use the Ukrainian input language under Windows XP:

Depending on the layout of your physical keyboard, the Ukrainian letter Ґ may not be assigned to any individual key. However, you should be able to enter this letter by holding down the AltGr key (usually to the right of the space bar) and pressing the key for the letter Г. Alternatively, if you are using Microsoft Word, you can insert the character via Insert > Symbol (where you can also assign a Shortcut Key to the character to avoid having to use this method every time).
If you enter a quotation mark (Shift+2) this appears as « at the beginning of a word or as » at the end of a word. These are the quotation marks used in Ukrainian.
The apostrophe, which plays an important role in some Ukrainian words, is not assigned to any individual key. To enter an apostrophe you can switch to the English input language, type the character and switch back to Ukrainian. Alternatively, if you are using Microsoft Word, you can use Insert > Symbol (as in note 1. above).