A keyboard suitable for a typewriter, word processor, computer terminal and the like consists of an array of keys corresponding to the characters of an alphabet arranged in distinct adjacent zones (11 to 19). The zones (11 to 19) may be delineated by boundaries (21, 22 or 30) or may be intrinsically defined by the nature of the characters they contain. The zones (11 to 19) are arranged in rows. The vowel characters of the alphabet are located in one or more adjacent zones (15) which are not in the top or bottom rows and which do not extend to either lateral extreme of the array.

Peripheral characters or keys are preferably larger than central characters or keys and the characters in each zone, in the top row and in the bottom row are preferably alphabetically related.

The keyboard is faster to use than a Qwerty layout for an untrained operator and results in fewer errors, and touch-typing is faster to learn on the keyboard.