Having the right keyboard for your workflow can make a huge difference in productivity and comfort. Whether you’re coding, writing, or just browsing, a keyboard that fits how you work helps reduce weariness.
But traditional keyboard layouts aren’t designed with everyone in mind, especially if you have mobility impairments or need to use just one hand. For many, such setups create unnecessary barriers and frustration.
That’s where accessible keyboards come in. They’re made to help people with different needs type and use a computer more easily. Recently, a new open source one-handed keyboard was released that combines a compact QWERTY layout with built-in mouse control.
HTX Studio One-Handed Keyboard: Overview
Acting on the request of a father, whose daughter met with an unfortunate accident and lost use of her right arm, HTX Studio set out to design an open source one-handed keyboard that would restore her ability to type and navigate a computer with ease.
After getting a mockup from the young lady, the HTX Studio team worked to build a practical keyboard design for her. Seven revisions later, they were able to settle on a design with the following specs:
Mouse Wheel: 19–20 mm diameter, 4-5 mm thick, metal wheel.
Arrow Keys: Five directional buttons with ALPS yellow switches.
Switches: Hot-swappable MX-compatible mechanical switches (Cherry MX, Gateron, Kailh, etc.) on the large variants and soldered ALPS Yellow tactile switches on the small variant.
Source: HTX Studio
For assembly, HTX Studio provides JLCPCB EDA project files, making it easy to order and print the PCBs. Along with that, the repository includes parts info for key components like switches, trackballs, encoders, and various mounting hardware.
Moreover, there are eight different PCB designs distributed across three keyboard variants. These include the main keyboard boards and extra boards for features like the trackball, mouse wheel, and arrow keys.
The left-handed and right-handed large variants. (Source: HTX Studio)
The three variants are a large right-hand hot-swappable keyboard, a large left-hand hot-swappable keyboard, and a smaller left-hand soldered keyboard. Here, hot-swappable means the user can replace switches without the need for soldering, while the soldered version has switches that are permanently soldered to the PCB during assembly.
Want to Build Yours?
Much of the documentation and schematics for the HTX Studio One-Handed Keyboard is in Simplified Chinese. If you’re not familiar with the language, using a translation service will help you navigate the content more effectively.
If you just want to see how it looks and feels, then you can watch the video linked above.
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