ISO/IEC 9995-2

INTERNATIONAL STANDARD FDIS DRAFT
ISO/IEC FDIS 9995-2:2025(en)
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 35
Secretariat: AFNOR
Date: 2025-08-16
Information technology — Keyboard layouts for text and office
systems —
Part 2:
Alphanumeric section
Technologies de l'information — Disposition des claviers conçus pour la bureautique —
Partie 2: Module alphanumérique
FDIS stage
ISO/IEC FDIS 9995-2:2025(en)
© ISO/IEC 2025
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication
may be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
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Published in Switzerland.
© ISO/IEC 2025 – All rights reserved
ii
ISO/IEC FDIS 9995-2:2025(en)
Contents Page
Foreword . iv
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Arrangement and Location . 1
5 Division into zones . 1
6 Arrangement and location of keys in the alphanumeric zone of the alphanumeric section 2
6.1 General keyboard arrangement . 2
6.2 Harmonized 48–50 graphic key keyboard arrangement . 3
7 Functions of the alphanumeric zone of the alphanumeric section . 5
7.1 Allocation of graphic characters. 5
7.2 Allocation of functions to non-graphic keys . 6
7.3 Minimum function key requirements . 7
7.4 Numeric keypad emulation . 9
7.5 Keytop markings . 13
Annex A (informative) Allocation guidelines . 14
Annex B (informative) Examples of key arrangements . 16
Bibliography . 23

© ISO/IEC 2025 – All rights reserved
iii
ISO/IEC FDIS 9995-2:2025(en)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are members
of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical committees
established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical activity. ISO and IEC
technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international organizations, governmental
and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the work.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described
in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of
document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC
Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives or www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs).
ISO and IEC draw attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of
(a) patent(s). ISO and IEC take no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed
patent rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO and IEC had not received
notice of (a) patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are
cautioned that this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database
available at www.iso.org/patents and https://patents.iec.ch. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for
identifying any or all such patent rights.
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions
related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.
In the IEC, see www.iec.ch/understanding-standards.
This document was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 35, User interfaces.
This fourth edition cancels and replaces the third edition (ISO/IEC 9995-2:2009), which has been technically
revised. It also incorporates the Amendment ISO/IEC 9995-2:2009/Amd. 1:2012.
The main changes are as follows:
— — describing keyboard layouts which conform to the state of the art.
A list of all parts in the ISO/IEC 9995 series can be found on the ISO and IEC websites.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html and www.iec.ch/national-
committees.
© ISO/IEC 2025 – All rights reserved
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ISO/IEC FDIS 9995-2:2025(en)
Information technology — Keyboard layouts for text and office
systems —
Part 2:
Alphanumeric section
1 Scope
Within the general scope described in ISO/IEC 9995-1, this document specifies the alphanumeric section of a
keyboard and the division of that section into zones; the arrangement, number, and location of the keys in the
alphanumeric zone ZA0 of the alphanumeric section; and the layout, allocation and effect of several control
functions to the keys in the function zones of the alphanumeric section.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes
requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references,
the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO/IEC 646, Information technology — ISO 7-bit coded character set for information interchange
ISO/IEC 9995--1, Information technology — Keyboard layouts for text and office systems — Part 1: General
principles governing keyboard layouts
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO/IEC 9995-1 apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— — ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp
— — IEC Electropedia: available at https://www.electropedia.org/
4 Arrangement and Location
The arrangement of the alphanumeric section is described in ISO/IEC 9995-1. Its extent is from column 99 to
column 15.
5 Division into zones
The alphanumeric section is divided into zones as illustrated in Figure 1Figure 1.
© ISO/IEC 2025 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 9995-2:2025(en)
NOTE Not drawn to scale — all lines are only indicative.
Figure 1 — Division of the alphanumeric section into zones
ZA0 is the alphanumeric zone of the alphanumeric section. The zones ZA1 and ZA2 are the function zones of
the alphanumeric section (see Figure 1Figure 1).). The arrangement, the number, and the locations of the keys
as well as the allocation of graphic characters and of several functions to the keys are specified in
Clause 6Clause 6 and Clause 7Clause 7.
6 Arrangement and location of keys in the alphanumeric zone of the alphanumeric
section
6.1 General keyboard arrangement
The graphic keys and the space bar shall be arranged in the alphanumeric zone ZA0.
This arrangement accommodates existing ISO and national keyboard layouts and is flexible enough to allow
possible extended versions, especially for national linguistic requirements.
The graphic keys and the space bar shall be located as illustrated in Figure 2Figure 2.
There shall be 48 or more graphic keys including the space bar in the alphanumeric zone of the alphanumeric
section. They shall be arranged as follows:
— — the space bar in row A, extending, as a minimum, from position A04 to A06;
— — 10 keys or more in row B in positions B00 to B11;
© ISO/IEC 2025 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 9995-2:2025(en)
— — 11 keys or more in row C in positions C01 to C15;
— — 12 keys or more in row D in positions D01 to D15;
— — 12 keys or more in row E in positions E00 to E15.
The precise boundary of zone ZA0 will be dependent on the number of keys and their configuration.

NOTE 1 Not drawn to scale — all lines are only indicative.
NOTE 2 The grid in which the keys are shown is that specified in ISO/IEC 9995-1.
Figure 2 — Arrangement and location of keys in the alphanumeric zone of the alphanumeric
section ZA0 for the general keyboard arrangement
6.2 Harmonized 48–50 graphic key keyboard arrangement
On a harmonized keyboard having 48 to 50 graphic keys including the space bar, the keys and the space bar
shall be located as illustrated in Figure 3Figure 3.
There shall be 48 to 50 graphic keys including the space bar in the alphanumeric zone of the alphanumeric
section. 47 of these keys shall be arranged as follows:
© ISO/IEC 2025 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 9995-2:2025(en)
— — the space bar in row A, extending, as a minimum, from position A04 to A06;
— — 10 keys in row B in positions B01 to B10;
— — 11 keys in row C in positions C01 to C11;
— — 12 keys in row D in positions D01 to D12;
— — 13 keys in row E in positions E00 to E12 (if the position E00 is needed for a function key, then 13 keys
in row E in positions E01 to E13).
The other 1 to 3 keys can use the positions E13, D13, C12, B00, or B11. In Figure 3Figure 3,, these positions
are shown with a light grey background.
Some common variants of the harmonized 48–50 graphic key keyboard arrangement are shown in
Annex BAnnex B.
NOTE 1 Not drawn to scale — the key shapes and the slanting angle of the key columns are only indicative.
NOTE 2 The areas shown in dark grey belong to the function zones ZA1 (left of the space bar) and ZA2 (right of the
space bar) of the alphanumeric section. The exact extent of these zones and the set of the keys shown here are only
indicative or exemplary.
NOTE 3 The key labels in the upper right corner are according to the grid which is specified in ISO/IEC 9995-1.
NOTE 4 All other key labels are only indicative or exemplary.
Figure 3 — Arrangement and location of keys in the alphanumeric zone of the alphanumeric section
ZA0 for the harmonized 48–50 graphic key keyboard arrangement
© ISO/IEC 2025 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 9995-2:2025(en)
7 Functions of the alphanumeric zone of the alphanumeric section
7.1 Allocation of graphic characters
7.1.1 General
The functions to be allocated to the keys of the alphanumeric zone ZA0 are graphic characters including the
character space.
The allocation of graphic characters is determined by either a national standard or by national usage.
NOTE Annex AAnnex A gives recommendations on allocations that are suitable for use in national standards.
7.1.2 Requirement for characters of the Latin alphabet
When the characters of the Latin alphabet are allocated to the keys of the alphanumeric zone ZA0, the
following requirements apply:
a) a) the 83 invariant graphic characters of ISO/IEC 646 shall be accommodated. These characters
are, together with their code point value in ISO/IEC 10646 (Unicode):
— — U+0041…U+005A: the 26 small letters a to z of the Latin alphabet;
— — U+0061…U+007A: the 26 capital letters A to Z of the Latin alphabet;
— — U+0030…U+0039: the ten digits 0 to 9, see "c)" below;
— — U+0021 exclamation mark (!);
— — U+0022 quotation mark (");
— — U+0025 percent sign (%);
— — U+0026 ampersand (&);
— — U+0027 apostrophe (’);
— — U+0028 left parenthesis (();
— — U+0029 right parenthesis ());
— — U+002A asterisk (*);
— — U+002B plus sign (+);
— — U+002C comma (,);
— — U+002D hyphen-minus sign (-);
— — U+002E full stop (.);
— — U+002F solidus (/);
— — U+003A colon (:);
— — U+003B semicolon (;);
© ISO/IEC 2025 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 9995-2:2025(en)
— — U+003C less-than sign (<);
— — U+003D equals sign (=);
— — U+003E greater-than sign (>);
— — U+003F question mark (?);
— — U+005F low line (_);
— — the character U+0020 space, see "d)" below;
b) b) the following two graphic characters also shall be accommodated:
— — U+0040 commercial at (@),
— — U+0023 number sign (#).
c) c) the digits 0 to 9 shall be allocated to the keys in row E;
d) d) the character space shall be allocated to the space bar in row A.
7.1.3 Allocation of special graphic characters
The graphic character Space shall be allocated to the space bar on level 1 and should also be allocated on that
key on level 2.
The graphic character No-Break Space (U+00A0), if contained in the layout, should be allocated to level 3 of
the space bar.
The graphic character Soft Hyphen (U+00AD) ,), if contained in the layout, should be allocated to level 3 of the
key to which the graphic character Hyphen is allocated.
7.2 Allocation of functions to non-graphic keys
Keyboards usually provide one or more of the following functions on dedicated non-graphic keys.:
— — level 2 select;
— — level 3 select;
— — tabulation;
— — return;
— — backspace/backward erase;
— — control;d
— — alternate.
Also, keyboards usually provide one or more of the following functions on dedicated non-graphic keys or by
means of pressing specific keys in combination with control, alternate, or level 3 select:
— — capitals lock/level 2 lock/generalized lock;
© ISO/IEC 2025 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC FDIS 9995-2:2025(en)
— — group select;
— — group 2 select;
— — group 2 single-select;
— — superselect (as specified in ISO/IEC 9995-9);
— — special character select (as specified in ISO/IEC 9995-9).
7.3 Minimum function key requirements
7.3.1 Level 2 select
Two keys for the function level 2 select (frequently called "shift") shall be provided in row B, one at each end
of the row of graphic keys. All or part of the left-hand level 2 select key shall be in position B99. The right--hand
level 2 select key shall be adjacent to the right--hand end of the row of graphic keys.
7.3.2 Level 3 select
For keyboards with characters allocated at level 3, at least one key for the function “Level 3 select” (frequently
marked "Alt Gr") shall be provided.
Specifically, for the harmonized 48–50 graphic key keyboard arrangement, at least one Level 3 select key shall
be provided in zone ZA1 or ZA2, either in row A or in row B.
7.3.3 Level 4 select
For ke
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