The Effect of Color Coding for the Characters on Computer Keyboards for Multilingual Input Using Modeless Methods

Color-coded keytop legends for bilingual code-switching text input

“…As suggested by Rizzolatti and Craighero [23], as a consequence of activation, there is an increase of motor readiness and a facilitation of stimulus processing at locations toward which the motor program is directed [9]. Consider the example of codeswitching from MPS to English while typing; it has been suggested that a user does not simultaneously ''load'' MPS and English layouts, but that the user ''unloads'' the MPS layout first and then ''loads'' the English character layout before typing in English [27].…”

“…Although Tang and Tsai [27] evaluated the effects of color-coded keytops, that research only considered copy typing. Since generative typing can be seen in most keyboarding today, this study further evaluates the effects of color-coded keytop legends on nontouch typists of different skill levels for different forms of typing, namely, generative typing and copy typing, using code-switching between English and Chinese MPS.…”

“…However, mostly due to cost concerns, many of the bilingual keyboards discussed in the present study are manufactured in monochrome instead of in color. A study conducted by Tang and Tsai [27] evaluated the effects of color-coded keytop legends on nontouch typists for multilingual input tasks using English and Chinese MPS. They suggested that keyboards with color-coding improve text input performance, especially when users type text that mixes English and Chinese (i.e., codeswitching typing) but that improvements are smaller when users type only English or Chinese (i.e., noncode-switching typing).…”

“…For over three decades, much attention toward code-switching has been devoted to its form, meaning, and grammatical patterns. However, very little research has focused on code-switching in writing [4,13] or on the specific topic of computer keyboard design [27].…”