13
deadline that can make matters worse. Do not overtax yourself early on, and if you have not been using a
keyboard regularly, build up slowly. Even if you are symptom free, you are still susceptible to injury. Do not
dramatically increase your keyboard usage without first consulting your health care professional.
If your thumbs are sensitive
The Advantage2 keyboard is designed for increased thumb usage compared to a traditional keyboard which
places more strain on the little fingers. Some new Kinesis Contoured keyboard users initially experience
fatigue or discomfort as their thumbs adapt to the increased workload. If you have a preexisting thumb injury,
be especially careful to move your hands and arms when reaching for thumb keys and read the paragraph
below about thumb
-
free typing option.
Guidelines for using your thumbs
Avoid stretching your thumbs to reach the furthest keys in the thumb clusters. Instead move your hands and
arms slightly, being careful to stay relaxed, and keep your wrists straight. If your thumbs are especially
sensitive, consider using your index fingers instead of your thumbs to activate these keys. You may want to
speak with your health care professional about these options. If pain persists for more than several days, stop
using the Advantage2 keyboard and contact your health care professional for advice.
Thumb
-
free typing options
If your thumbs are especially sensitive, your keyboard can be configured for minimal thumb use or even
thumb
-
free typing if necessary. This approach is most effective when using a Kinesis foot pedal in conjunction
with the Advantage2. Generally speaking, thumb
-
free typing is accomplished by remapping thumb key
actions to the embedded layer, preferably accessed through an optional Kinesis foot pedal, where they can
be typed with by your fingers. Personal preference will dictate the exact details of any custom layout but see
Section 6.12 for instructions on how to remap keys.
5.0 Initially Configuring Your Keyboard
For most Windows users, the default QWERTY layout and Windows thumb
-
key mode will be optimal.
However, if you use a Mac or the Dvorak layout, you will want to reconfigure your keyboard. You should start
with the Basic Onboard Programming Tools, but there are additional Power User Tools available if you need
them.
Basic Onboard Programming Tools
Changing layouts and thumb key modes is most easily accomplished with SmartSet Onboard Programming
as described below. If you want to further tweak your layout with remapping or you want to create macros,
that is also easily accomplished with Onboard Programming as detailed in Section 6.
Power User Tools
To perform more advanced customization, activate
Power User Mode
(Section 7) to open the v
-
drive on their
computer and access any of the configuration files. From the v
-
drive, layouts can be viewed and edited
directly, and other keyboard settings can be customized, all without the installation of any software. Since
configuration files are saved in
“
simple text
”
format, they can be opened and viewed with any basic text
-
editor
program, regardless of your operating system.
Important note: Editing these configuration files requires using the U.S. English keyboard driver.
If you are use the U.S. English keyboard driver, you may also want to try the graphical SmartSet App for
Advantage2. No installation is necessary, and the App allows you to visualize and edit your customized
configuration. The App may be downloaded at
kinesis.com/support/advantage2
