Design And Evaluation of A Language-Specific Keyboard Layout For Kanuri Language With Non-Standard Character

Abstract

The Kanuri language, spoken by over 5 million people in West Africa, faces significant challenges in digital communication due to its non-standard characters and diacritics. This study designs, evaluates, and statistically validates a linguistically optimized Kanuri keyboard layout that outperforms QWERTY by 27.7 % in speed and 33.3 % in accuracy. Applying Fitts’ Law and character frequency analysis, the proposed layout prioritizes high-frequency characters (e.g., a, n, ə) on the home row and integrates dead keys for diacritics. Usability testing with 20 native speakers demonstrated a 27.7% improvement in typing speed (23.3 WPM vs. 18.1 WPM on QWERTY) and a 33.3% reduction in error rates. Iterative refinements based on user feedback resolved key accessibility issues, such as relocating the g key and optimizing modifier layers. The findings highlight the importance of language-specific keyboard designs in promoting digital inclusion and preserving linguistic diversity. This research contributes to human-computer interaction (HCI) by providing a replicable framework for marginalized languages with non-standard orthographies.