Ergonomic Desktop Keyboards: Benefits and the Different Types

If you’re someone who works in front of a computer all day and experiences wrist and hand pain by the end of their workday, you need to consider improving your working conditions by investing in an ergonomic desktop keyboard. Typing for multiple hours a day, every day, can be very tiring. Eventually, you may start experiencing arm and shoulder pain, which can reduce your productivity significantly, and more importantly, it can have lasting effects on your overall health.

As its name implies, an ergonomic desktop keyboard is a keyboard that values ergonomics. And if you’re unfamiliar with what ergonomics is, it’s basically the process of designing your workplace with products that help promote health, safety, and efficiency. In other words, you want to design your workplace to adapt to you and your body, instead of adapting yourself to the workplace. Ergonomic keyboards can help relieve the stress from your shoulders, arms, hands, and wrists.

There are a few different types of ergonomic keyboards, and almost every popular brand has their own unique approach to improving work efficiency and reducing pain. Some of the popular types of ergonomic keyboards include handheld, split and contoured keyboards.

Handheld keyboards are similar to game console controllers, and they don’t have to be placed on a flat surface to be used. You can pick it up and use it, so you don’t need to have your elbows and arms positioned in the same way for several hours. In fact, you can move away from the computer and keep on using the keyboard. Some handheld keyboards also offer mouse control, allowing you to navigate your mouse and type from anywhere you want.

Split keyboards can be either angled or fixed. Fixed keyboards are basically a single keyboard that has its keys grouped in two or three sections, except each section is angled in a way that makes it convenient for typing. On the other hand, angled split keyboards are adjustable, and you can change the angle of each section to find the most suitable position for you.

Contoured keyboards are similar to split keyboards, except they’re made to minimize the need to move your wrists and arms. These keyboards feature two sunken sections that match the average shoulder width, and all the function keys are placed between the two sections so that you can easily reach them with your thumbs.