What is or was BÉPO?

Some of those who have struggled to master the QWERTY layout of a standard English keyboard when learning to type may know that there are also keyboard layouts that do not resemble traditional typewriter layouts and are designed to reduce finger movement.

These alternatives, such as Dvorak, are claimed to offer higher typing speed along with ergonomic benefits. The same issue arises with keyboards designed for other languages. The standard here has long been the AZERTY keyboard layout. However this suffers from the same sort of problems as the ones that are familiar from QWERTY.

The BÉPO layout is an optimised French keyboard layout developed by the BÉPO community, supporting all Latin-based alphabets of the European Union, Greek and Esperanto. It is also designed to ease programming. It is based on ideas from the Dvorak and other ergonomic layouts. Typing with it is usually easier due to the high frequency keys being in the home row. There are typing tutors to ease the transition.

In 2017, the BÉPO layout was the object of an ongoing standardization by the French organization for standardization (AFNOR), along with an improved version of the traditional AZERTY layout. However, the use of the BÉPO layout, as well as that of the proposed new AZERTY layout, remained marginal.