Select the virtual keyboard you want to use from the Select Virtual Keyboard list. The Keyboard Setting list doesn't apply here. Shortly, the characters from the selected virtual keyboard will be displayed on the virtual keyboard layout. From there you can enter your characters by clicking on them.
Entering characters using a keyboard
To enter characters using your keyboard, first, select the virtual keyboard you want to use from the Select Virtual Keyboard list.This action loads the characters onto the virtual keyboard layout. The layout shows the relationship between your keyboard and the virtual keyboard you would select.
When you select a virtual keyboard, the grayed out Keyboard Setting list is activated. You probably don't need to change the selection since you may already have your locale input set to American (QWERTY). If your selection and your locale input differ, you may get unexpected results.
Once you match your selection with your local input, you enter your characters by pressing the corresponding keys on your physical keyboard. When you are entering characters using your keyboard, make sure the text box has the focus (the caret is blinking in the text box).
After you entered some text into the text box, you can copy and use it anywhere. You can also follow one of the search links to get the search results for the text you just entered.
The Demo link above is a YouTube help video. You may need to follow the link for a live demonstration of how the virtual keyboards work.
Boxes, Vertical bars, or Question marks
These may appear on your screen instead of your characters for a number of reasons. Make sure a Unicode font for your characters is installed on your machine. You can download Unicode fonts from Alan Wood's website.
Special characters
You may use the Unicode character picker to enter characters not available in the virtual keyboards. The range of text you can enter using the Unicode character picker includes accent characters, scientific symbols, and musical notes.
Writing systems supported
Currently, Arabic العربية, Armenian Հայկական, Bengali বাংলা লিপি, Cyrillic Кириллица, Devanagari देवनागरी, Ge'ez / Ethiopic ግዕዝ, Georgian / Mkhedruli ქართული, Greek Ελληνικά, Gujarati ગુજરાતી, Gurmukhi / Punjabi ਗੁਰਮੁਖੀ, Hebrew עִבְרִית, Kannada ಕನ್ನಡ, Korean 한국어, Latin, Malayalam മലയാളം, Tamil தமிழ், Telugu తెలుగు, Thaana ތާނަ and Thai อักษรไทย are supported. You can find a list of the languages written by these writing systems at Omniglot website.
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Compatibility
Internet Explorer 6.0+, Firefox 1.5+, Google Chrome, Opera 9.5+, and Safari 3.0+
What is New...
You can now switch between your keyboard and your selection by using the Esc key on your keyboard or the Esc button on the layout.
Keyboard Input
Caps Lock is not supported. Use Shift key to access the Caps Lock state.
Mouse Input
Shift Lock for Swiss German, Hebrew, and other keyboards is supported. The Alt, Ctrl, and Shift combinations are not supported.
Dead keys
To type a character on a dead key, follow the dead key by a space.
Chinese and Japanese IMEs
Chinese and Japanese IMEs are not supported. Use the Unicode character picker to select your characters.
