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simplifying the 'Symbols' section a bit #10

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dabd114
simplifying the 'Symbols' section a bit
fabi1cazenave Feb 27, 2026
b067f5e
100 chars per lin
fabi1cazenave Feb 28, 2026
a6a401e
minor improvements
fabi1cazenave Feb 28, 2026
bbccc69
unwanted empty line
fabi1cazenave Feb 28, 2026
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48 changes: 21 additions & 27 deletions index.html
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Expand Up @@ -210,7 +210,6 @@ <h3 id="thumb-shifting">Thumb-Shifting</h3>
<ul>
<li>to work seamlessly these keys must have “hold-preferred” priority, which is not suitable for homerow-mods;</li>
<li>this setting makes it <em></em>much easier<em></em> to chain several uppercase letters or symbols.</li>

</ul>
<p>Having <kbd>Shift</kbd> as a homerow-mod is often recommended… and a very common reason why HRMs as a whole are
so difficult to tune right: capitalizing a word while typing text requires <kbd>Shift</kbd>
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -323,7 +322,7 @@ <h3 id="flavor-tt">TT: Thumb-Taps</h3>
<p> Learning hold-taps and thumb-shifting is the next step:</p>
<ul>
<li> <kbd>Nav/Num</kbd> is activated with a long press on <kbd>Space</kbd>; </li>
<li> introduction to hold-taps: modifier keys <kbd>Ctrl</kbd>, <kbd>OS</kbd> and
<li> introduction to hold-taps: modifier keys <kbd>Ctrl</kbd>, <kbd>OS</kbd> and
<kbd>Alt</kbd> act as <kbd>Backspace</kbd>, <kbd>Tab</kbd> and <kbd>Enter</kbd>when tapped; </li>
<li> <kbd>Shift</kbd> and <kbd>Sym</kbd> are sticky: modifiers when held,
dead keys when tapped. </li>
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -478,24 +477,25 @@ <h3 id="layer-nav-num">Nav/Num</h3>
it’s a tap-preferred on the right (<kbo>Space</kbo>), a hold-preferred on the left. This
allows unmissable, single-hand shortcuts. </p>


<h3 id="layer-symbols">Symbols</h3>
<object type="image/svg+xml" data="keeb.svg" class="sym"></object>
<p>All 30 programming symbols are available on this single layer, wich has been
fine-tuned for comfort of use: </p>
<p>All 30 programming symbols are available on this single layer, and their placement has been
optimized for comfort: </p>
<ul>
<li> the most common symbols are in the most comfortable positions; </li>
<li> no symbol ever requires <kbd>Shift</kbd> </li>
<li> common sequences of programming sybols can be typed without uncomfortable same-finger bigrams,
<li> no symbol ever requires <kbd>Shift</kbd>; </li>
<li> common sequences of programming symbols can be typed without same-finger bigrams,
either by alternating hands (<code>~/</code>, <code>);</code>, <code>&lt;/&gt;</code>,
<code>+=</code>, <code>['']</code>, etc.) or with a single-hand roll (<code>&gt;=</code>,
<code>/*</code>, <code>";</code>, <code>()</code>, <code>\"</code>, etc.). </li>
</ul>

<p>To furthermore reduce frictions in usage, the thumbs actions on the left hand were modified to ease sequences
with non-alpha characters. These sequence would otherwise involve a nasty change of position of
the right thumb (a same-thumb bigram), which really breaks the flow of typing. The left-hand thumb
cluster of the Symbols layer allow us to access these characters without releasing the <kbd>Sym</kbd> key:</p>
<p> Besides, this layer has truly been designed with Vim in mind, to ease advanced
navigation tricks like vertical jumps with <code>{}</code>, <code>()</code>, <code>[]</code>
followed by <code>+-</code> (on the <kbd>J</kbd><kbd>K</kbd> positions), to adjust the
movement line by line without releasing the <kbd>Sym</kbd> key. </p>
<p>The Symbols layer is a core part of the <a href="https://ergol.org">Ergol</a> layout and
the <a href="https://github.com/OneDeadKey/arsenik">Arsenik</a> keymap: it’s been tested and
improved over <em>years</em>. Rough edges have been polished over time. </p>
<svg viewBox="0 10 410 57">
<g class="left">
<g class="tucked thumb">
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -544,23 +544,17 @@ <h3 id="layer-symbols">Symbols</h3>
</g>
</g>
</svg>

<p>Selenium adds a specific concern to ease sequences with non-alpha characters without
releasing the <kbd>Sym</kbd> key, thus avoiding same-thumb bigrams and preserving the typing
flow. This is why the Symbols layer features these three actions in the left-hand thumb
cluster, from right to left: </p>
<ul>
<li> The leftmost thumb key now activates the numeric layer of your choice (either Nav/Num or NumRow,
see below) to type Symbols/Digits combos like <code>(0)</code>, <code>[1]</code>, etc. To make things
even better, the <kbd>num</kbd> key is also sticky on this layer for all flavors with three thumb keys; </li>
<li> The home thumb key yield a <kbd>Space</kbd>, for long symbol sequences like
<code>:(){ :|:& };:</code>; </li>
<li> The rightmost thumb key yields <kbd>Enter</kbd>, to seamlessly type lines ending with a
symbol (e.g. <code>;</code>). </li>
<li> <kbd>Enter</kbd>, to easily type a line ending after a symbol (e.g. <code>;</code>); </li>
<li> <kbd>Space</kbd>, for long symbol sequences like <code>:(){ :|:& };:</code>; </li>
<li> <kbd>num</kbd>, which activates the default numeric layer (either Nav/Num or NumRow,
see below), to type Symbols/Digits combos like <code>(0)</code>, <code>[1]</code>, etc.
This key is sticky for all flavors with three thumb keys. </li>
</ul>
<p> Besides these optimisations for programming in general, this layer has truly been designed
with Vim in mind, to ease advanced navigation tricks like vertical jumps with <code>{}</code>,
<code>()</code>, <code>[]</code> and to chain them with <code>+-</code>, which are on the
<kbd>J</kbd><kbd>K</kbd> positions, to adjust the movement line by line. </p>
<p>The Symbols layer is a core part of the <a href="https://ergol.org">Ergol</a> keyboard
layout and the <a href="https://github.com/OneDeadKey/arsenik">Arsenik</a> keymap: it’s been intensely
tested and improved over <em>years</em>, which explains how efficient and fuent it is to use. </p>

<h3 id="layer-fun-media">Fun/Media</h3>
<object type="image/svg+xml" data="keeb.svg" class="fun"></object>
Expand Down