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French keyboard: a voluntary standard to make it easier to type all characters

The voluntary standard NF Z71-300 proposes a new layout of characters on computer keyboard keys to make typing in French easier.

Published on March 4, 2019, Updated on March 5, 2026

Electrotechnologies

Have you ever tried typing the characters “æ,” “œ,” or—even worse—their uppercase equivalents on a standard QWERTY keyboard? It’s a real challenge! The voluntary standard NF Z71-300 proposes a new keyboard layout to make typing French text easier.

AFNOR publishes the voluntary standard NF Z71-300 which proposes a new layout for the characters on a computer keyboard, designed to make it easier to type text in French, a regional language, or another European language using the Latin alphabet. An explanation in 11 questions and answers.

1. Who decided we needed to design a new keyboard?

In 2015, the Ministry of Culture—specifically the General Delegation for the French Language and the Languages of France (DGLFLF)—asked AFNOR to launch a project to develop a standard for the French keyboard. Every year, thousands of representatives from organizations (companies, consumer groups, labor unions, government agencies) work through AFNOR to ensure that voluntary standards provide solutions to issues specific to their industry, their field, and their products.

2. Why change the keyboards we're used to?

Current "AZERTY" keyboards do not allow users to easily type accented characters in uppercase, use "double angle brackets," the two French ligatures “æ” (e in a) and “œ” (e in o) and their capital equivalents “Æ” and “Œ,” to name just the most common ones. The standard therefore aims to make it easier for users to type, without necessarily having to use licensed software that compensates for these shortcomings.

Its goal is to improve the keyboard’s ergonomics and make it easier to type in French, regional languages, and all characters used in Latin-based languages across Europe (with a focus on the most common characters in Europe’s major languages, such as German, Spanish, and Portuguese).

3. What exactly does the NF ZF1-300 standard say?

The members of the standardization committee decided to propose two keyboard layouts, which offer the same typing capabilities while catering to different uses. The first is an optimized AZERTY layout—essentially an AZERTY 2.0. The 26 letters of the alphabet and the numbers remain in the same positions as on the main standard "AZERTY" layouts, unlike certain other characters such as some accented vowels, the at sign, punctuation marks, the hash symbol (hashtag), currency symbols, and curly brackets. These changes are therefore easy for interested users to adopt.

The second layout proposed by the standard, known as the “bépo” layout, is already familiar to a community of enthusiasts. Created in 2003, this layout is referenced in the voluntary standard in an optimized version that uses dead keys to enter even more accents from European languages of Latin origin, or single quotation marks, for example. The “bépo” layout is now recognized as offering the most ergonomic and efficient layout possible for typing French, other European languages based on the Latin alphabet, and also for programming. Inspired by the English-language Dvorak layout, “bépo” is available under a free license on many operating systems.

4. Why does the standard propose two keyboard layouts: the improved "AZERTY" and "BÉPO"?

The standards committee behind the voluntary standard encountered widely differing views on whether to define a new French keyboard layout. There was both a very strong demand to keep everything the same and an equally strong, opposing demand to change everything. That is why the committee members decided to propose these two layouts, which offer the same typing capabilities while catering to different uses. Keyboard manufacturers will therefore be able to choose to offer an improved “AZERTY” layout and/or a “BÉPO” layout.

5. What are the benefits of this standard?

The goal is to minimize current typing difficulties, such as those mentioned in question 2: the use of accented characters, particularly accented uppercase characters, the use of “double chevrons,” the use of the two French ligatures “æ” (e in a) and “œ” (e in o) and their uppercase equivalents “Æ” and “Œ”… The standard aims to propose solutions to facilitate writing French using a keyboard sold in France.

6. Should we switch to a different keyboard now? Are the old keyboards obsolete?

Not at all. Fortunately, consumers can keep their current keyboards if they wish. They still work just fine. Consumers can also purchase the new keyboards optimized to meet the standard if they want to make it easier to type and write in French, regional languages, and Latin-based languages.

7. Is this standard mandatory?

The standard for the French keyboard, like 99% of voluntary standards , is by no means mandatory. It does not impose any obligations on anyone. It is a voluntary guideline. Keyboard manufacturers may choose to comply with it when producing new keyboard models if this market is of interest to their business development. Companies and government agencies may nevertheless decide to equip their employees or staff with optimized keyboards and thus make this document a requirement for responding to a call for bids.

8. How much will it cost me to switch keyboards?

Compliance with the standard does not entail any additional costs for the manufacturer, apart from those associated with adapting the production line to engrave the keys or modifying the driver software. Based on the prices of conventional keyboards, it is likely that standardized keyboards will be sold in the same price range—between 5 and 20 euros for basic models.

9. Where can I find these new keyboards?
Since the standard was published in early April 2019, manufacturers need time to familiarize themselves with it and decide whether or not to adopt it and then release new, optimized keyboards. Interested consumers can also take the initiative and contact keyboard manufacturers or computer makers to let them know what they want.

10. How and by whom was this standard developed?

The NF Z71-300 standard was developed collaboratively by the members of a committee comprising The list is public . Keyboard manufacturers, IT companies, associations, government agencies… Like all AFNOR committees, this committee was open to anyone who wished to participate in the project. Voluntary standards are developed jointly by stakeholders : These standards are drafted by market participants, not by AFNOR, whose role is to facilitate this process while ensuring consensus and the public interest.

Scientists were also involved in this project: the optimized “AZERTY” keyboard layout was designed based on statistical analyses conducted by researchers in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) at Aalto University (Finland), which has recognized expertise in optimizing input interfaces, particularly keyboards. Researchers from Inria Lille – Nord Europe, the Max Planck Institute for Informatics (Germany), and ETH Zurich (Switzerland) also offered their assistance. Their contribution was to design a system capable of evaluating and designing optimal keyboard layouts, in accordance with constraints established (and frequently adjusted) by experts on the standardization committee. Computers calculated the optimal placement of the new characters to be added, based on massive corpora of French text provided notably by ELRA (European Association for Language Resources).

Supporters of the “bépo” layout, for their part, contributed to the project by sharing 15 years of feedback. The inclusion of the “bépo” layout in the standard—slightly optimized as part of the project—is therefore a recognition of the validity of the typing practices enabled by this type of keyboard.

A public hearing was held in June 2017: The draft voluntary standard has been made public and is open for public comment . More than 3,000 comments were submitted and taken into account by the standardization committee. Numerous discussions took place in the media and on social media under the hashtag #clavierfrançais. The large number of comments received resulted in a significant amount of additional work, leading to several delays in the publication of the final document. Consequently, the document could not be published until consensus reached by consensus among all members of the standardization committee.

11. Is this standard useful in the age of virtual keyboards?

Indeed, the rapid development of mobile and touchscreen devices has led to widespread use of so-called “virtual” keyboards—that is, keyboards that do not physically exist but can be displayed on a screen, for example. France is also spearheading a draft international standard on virtual keyboard interfaces, one of whose recommendations would be for each country to follow the standard layout of physical keyboards for alphabetical keys, whenever possible.

Nevertheless, virtual keyboards are far from replacing “traditional” desktop keyboards: in the professional world, most corporate employees and government workers use a computer equipped with a keyboard on a daily basis; this situation is unlikely to change much in the coming years. The situation is, of course, quite different in the personal sphere, where mobile devices are gradually replacing home computers.