Characters represented in the main layer of the Updated Italian Keyboard, version 3.2
Red symbols are the access points to the alternative layers
Click on the symbol of a layer (4^th position in red) to scroll down to the characters map of that layer

The e with acute accent (é) is represented twice: the first location is on the left of the z key, and the second is in 3^rd position of the e key. The first location is by far the most convenient but it is not available in American keyboards, in which such a key is missing. In such a case, the é character is typed with AltGr+e. For the best typing speed, press Altgr with the thumb of the right hand.

In addition to the capital vowels with accents, in the main layer are also located further important characters missing in the traditional layout, such as:

• angled quotation marks, in 3^rd position of keys 2 and 3
• double quotation marks, in 3^rd position of keys 8 and 9
• single quotation marks, in 3^rd position of keys 0 and '
• Bullet in 3^rd position of dot key
• Feminine ordinal indicator, in 4^rd position of à key
• (en) dash, in 3^rd position of minus key
• multiplication sign, in 4^rd position of x key
• tilde, in 3^rd position of n key
• mi and pi letters from the Greek alphabet, in 3^rd position of m and p keys
• No break space in 3^rd position of space key

In this layer are also other characters that could not be placed in any alterniative layer through the intuitive process generally adopted in the mapping of the Updated Italian Keyboard. They are:

• Æ, in 3^rd and 4^th position of a key
• Œ, in 3^rd and 4^th position of o key
• IJ, in 3^rd and 4^th position of i key
• Eszett, in 3^rd position of s key
• Eth, in 3^rd and 4^th position of d key
• Thorn, in 3^rd and 4^th position of t key
• Schwa, in 3^rd and 4^th position of w key
• Inverted exclamation mark and inverted question mark, in 3^rd and 4^th position of 1 key
• low double quotation mark, in 4^th position of 9 key

Above references to the characters positions are related to the legends of the traditional Italian keyboard

This layer is activated by AltGr + Maiusc + \ , because of similarity of backslash to the symbol of grave accent.

This layer maps letters with grave accent.

Key w holds the characters ǜ and Ǜ (U and u with diaeresis and grave accent).

Since on the same key activating this layer is also present the vertical bar, in this layer is also mapped the currency symbol Baht (฿) in place of capital B.

Presence of ť, Ľ and ľ (L and T with caron) is improper in this layer, but it provides an additional solution to those who sought them in a layer of accent rather than in the layer of caron.

The space bar makes the combining sign of the grave accent.

¨ dieresi

This layer is activated by AltGr + Maiusc + " , because of similarity of double quotation mark to the symbol of diaeresis.

This layer maps letters with diaeresis.

Note that in the area of the right hand, already accented o and u vowels get double acute accent.

The space bar makes the combining sign of diaeresis.

cedilla

This layer is activated by AltGr + Maiusc + 5 , because of similarity of 5 to the symbol of cedilla.

This layer maps letters with cedilla.

The space bar makes the combining sign of cedilla.

/ slash

This layer is activated by AltGr + Maiusc + / , slash.

This layer maps symbols with a slash.

Most important characters in this layer are Ø and Ł, needed in Danish and Polish.

Some fractions are here represented, and we can find some simple rules to remember their location, at least for some of them:

• keys 2, 3, 4, 8 hold ½, ⅓, ¼, ⅛ in 1^st position
• key 2 holds ⅔ in 2^nd position (2 at numerator)
• key 3 holds ¾ in 2^nd position (3 at numerator)
• key 5 holds ⅝ in 2^nd position (5 at numerator)
• key 7 holds ⅞ in 2^nd position (7 at numerator)
• key 8 holds ⅜ in 2^nd position (no story to tell here, sorry)

In place of equal (=) there is not equal (≠).

in place of C (2^nd position because c is over) there is ℅ (Care Of) for writing a temporary host’s address.

This layer is activated by AltGr + Maiusc + 0 , because of similarity of zero to the symbol of overring.

Most important characters in this layer are Å and Ů, needed in Czech, Danish and Swedish.

Other characters obtained by the addition of a ring are those for the protection of intellectual property:

• copyright (©) in place of c
• registered mark (®) in place of r
• per mille (‰) in place of %

Since on the same key activating this layer is also present the sign equal, in this layer are also mapped the symbols that results from the union of the two horizontal dashes with the basic characters. They are:

• currencies Yen (¥) and Lira (₤).
• Not equal sign (≠) in place of / (slash)
• Leftwards and rightwards double arrows (⇐, ⇒) in 3^rd position of Z and X keys;
• Left-right double arrow (⇔) in 2^nd position of key 0;

The space bar makes the combining sign of ring.

´ acute accent

This layer is activated by AltGr + Maiusc + ' , because of similarity of apostrophe to the symbol of acute accent.

This layer maps letters with acute accent.

Key w holds the characters Ǘ and ǘ (U and u with diaeresis and acute accent).

Note that in the area of the right hand, already accented o and u vowels acquire the double acute accent.

Presence of ď and ť (d and t with caron) is improper in this layer, but it provides an additional solution to those who sought them in a layer of accent rather than in the layer of caron.

Presence of ģ (g with cedilla) is improper in this layer, but it provides an additional solution to those who sought them in a layer of accent rather than in the layer of cedilla.

The space bar makes the combining sign of acute accent.

^ circumflex accent

This layer is activated by AltGr + Maiusc + ^ , circumflex.

This layer maps letters with circumflex.

In some contexts of computing science the circumflex represents the mathematical operator of exponentiation. By graphic similarity with exponents, in this layer are also placed some superscript characters. They are:

• superscript numbers ^{0, 1, 2, 3};
• superscript numbers from ⁴ to ⁹ – Notice: to date there are not many fonts that implement these symbols;
• ordinal indicators ª and º, in place of accented vowels à and ò;
• superscript letters ⁱ and ⁿ, in place of accented vowel ì and of letter n;
• superscript math operators ^{+, -};
• superscript math operators ^{(, ), =} in 2^nd position of keys 8, 9 and 0;
• trade mark (™) in place of t.

The space bar makes the combining sign of circumflex.

˘ breve

This layer is activated by AltGr + Maiusc + U , because of similarity of U to the symbol of breve.

This layer maps letters with breve.

The space bar makes the combining sign of breve.

This layer is activated by AltGr + Maiusc + S. Somehow strange characters are represented here but them can be useful if you want to draw or fill in forms, such as boxes, arrows and signs to create schemes.

• the check sign (✓), in place of v, can be used for filling out PDF forms in which it is possible to express a choice by putting a sign in a box
• characters with the box can be used for the creation of forms intended to be filled in. The one with a check mark is in 2^nd position of the key v, while the other two are in the key period
• the arrows are placed in the 2^nd position of the keys w, a, d and x, that is around the S key, which is the initial of the name of this layer

The most interesting symbols in this layer are those for drawing schemes with text–only (plain text) editors, such as “Notepad” delivered with Microsoft Windows®. A necessary condition for these special symbols to work properly is that a non–proportional font is used, that is any font in which all characters have the same width. Examples of such fonts are New Courier, or fonts whose name includes the word “mono” or “console”, such as Lucida Console, Liberation Mono, etc.

Further symbols needed to box drawing are:

• vertical line, located in place of the vulgar vertical line
• horizontal line, located in place of the minus sign

Unlike the other layers, where the space bar generates a combining diacritical mark, in the layer of schemes the space key generates the mathematical symbol of not.

Here are a few examples of usage of box-drawing characters, made with Notepad:

ˇ caron

This layer is activated by AltGr + Maiusc + v , because of similarity of v to the symbol of caron.

This layer maps letters with caron.

Key w holds the characters Ǚ and ǚ (U and u with diaeresis and caron).

The space bar makes the combining sign of caron.

˜ tilde

This layer is activated by AltGr + Maiusc + N , because of similarity of N to the tilde.

This layer maps letters with tilde.

Almost equal (≈) is in place of equal (=).

The space bar makes the combining sign of tilde.

This layer is activated by AltGr + Maiusc + , because of similarity of comma to the diacritical marks of undercomma and ogonek.

This layer maps letters with undercomma and ogonek. Besides these, there are also:

• Single low quotation mark in place of the apostrophe;
• subscript numbers from ₀ to ₉ – Notice: to date there are not many fonts that implement these symbols;
• subscript math operators _{+, -};
• subscript math operators _{(, ), =} in 2^nd position of keys 8, 9 and 0;

The key comma outputs the combining ogonek.

The space bar makes the combining sign of comma, while the key of comma makes the combining sign of ogonek.

˙ overdot

This layer is activated by AltGr + Maiusc + .

This layer maps letters with overdot, lowercase i without dot, uppercase i with overdot, lowercase and uppercase l with middle dot.

There are also some symbols for the drawing up of lists and questionnaires modules:

• Ellipsis (…), in 1^st position of dot key
• Middle dot (·), in 2^nd position of dot key

The space bar makes the combining sign of dot over.

¯ macron

This layer is activated by AltGr + Maiusc + - , because of similarity of minus to the symbol of macron.

This layer maps letters with macron.

There are also characters resulting by the overlap of a dash to the basic characters. They are:

• more or less (±) in place of plus
• less or equal (≤) in the z key
• greater or equal (≥) in the x key
• (em) dash (—) in the minus key
• D with stroke (Đ) in the d key
• H with stroke (Ħ) in the h key
• Z with stroke (Ƶ) in the z key

Key w holds the characters Ǖ and ǖ (U and u with diaeresis and macron).

The space bar makes the combining sign of macron.