Ergonomics and Keyboard Usage for Enhanced Typing

Posted on Jan 23, 2025 in Physical Education

Ergonomics in the Workplace

Ergonomics is the science that studies people’s efficiency in their workplace. Office ergonomics focuses on body posture and the design of chairs, tables, and computers to reduce back, neck, or wrist pain.

Body Posture

Correct Posture: Head and body straight, relaxed shoulders, elbows close to the body, lower back support, forearm level or slightly lifted, knees bent at a 90º angle.

Incorrect Posture: Top of screen at eye level, upper leg not horizontal to chair, shoulders not relaxed.

Common Issues: Feet not flat on the floor, lack of footrest.

To avoid neck pain, keep your head and body straight and don’t pull your shoulders up. Use a chair with lower back support and keep the upper part of your legs horizontal to the seat. Your knees need to be bent at an angle of 90º. Your feet should be flat on the floor or on top of a footrest. The screen should be slightly below eye level, and when you write, your forearms should be slightly below the keyboard level, and your elbows need to be close to your body.

Keyboard Basics

Keyboard: A panel of keys arranged for easy typing of numbers, letters, and symbols (characters). Western keyboards are called alphanumeric. The standard letter layout in Spain and other European countries is Qwerty, named after the first six keys on the top left row. Different key distributions aim to reduce fatigue by grouping frequently used key combinations.

Keyboard sign: character #@

Special Keys

Most keys represent letters and numbers, but some require special attention:

  • Tab key: Located above the Caps Lock Key.
  • Shift Key: Between the Caps Lock Key and the Control Key.
  • Delete key: At the top right of the keyboard.
  • Enter key: To the right, larger than other keys on most keyboards.
  • Caps Lock key: Allows writing using only capital letters.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcuts: Combinations of keys that allow quick performance of simple tasks. Improve typing skills by using special key combinations (shortcuts) to perform common tasks. Typically, shortcut keys combine the Ctrl or Alt keys with other keys. Using shortcuts will dramatically speed up your typing.

Fingers

Finger Names:

  • Wrist: muñeca
  • Palm: palma
  • Thumb: pulgar
  • Index finger: dedo índice
  • Middle finger: dedo medio o corazon
  • Ring finger: dedo anular
  • Pinky: meñique

Spanish Symbols on an English Keyboard

Spanish symbols can be typed by holding the Alt key and entering a 3 or 4-digit code using the numeric keypad. For example, é = Alt + 130.

Ñ and € do not appear on an English keyboard. The pound symbol (£) does not appear on a Spanish keyboard.

Common Verbs

Verbs:

  • Aim at: tener como obj.
  • Assess: evaluar.
  • Avoid: evitar.
  • Bold: negrita.
  • Boost: estimular.
  • Contain: contener.
  • Contribute to: contribuir a.
  • Decide: decidir.
  • Design: diseñar.
  • Evaluate: evaluar.
  • Improve: mejorar.
  • Insert: insertar.
  • Perform: realizar.
  • Provide: suministrar.
  • Pull up: estirar hacia arriba.
  • Refer to: referirse a.
  • Save: guardar.
  • Type: teclear.
  • Do: did done hacer.
  • Hit: hit golpear, teclear.
  • Learn: learned/learnt.
  • Undo: undid undone deshacer