Video: Virtual Keyboard

The Virtual Keyboard was first developed in June 2002. It is a small Java script application for multilingual text input in foreign languages. The virtual keyboard or on-screen keyboard, allows online users to enter text in your native language script, no matter where you are or what computer you’re using.

The Virtual keyboard first supported 14 Western and Eastern European language layouts, including phonetic or transliterated layouts for the Russian and Ukrainian languages.

The virtual keyboard implemented a “dead key”, which allows inputting characters with their associated diacritics or accents for the languages with special characters.  To make the virtual keyboard more familiar to the users, upper and lower case and Caps Lock support have been implemented as well.

As an extra convenience, Smart Link Corporation implemented the physical keyboard interception. This allows users to enter texts not only by clicking on the letters of the virtual keyboard, but also by using the physical keyboard. 

In 2004, more language layouts have been added covering not only European languages, but Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, Hindi, Urdu and others. For the Arabic, Hebrew, Farsi and Urdu languages, with the right-to-left writing, the automatic data-entry direction recognition system has been implemented. 

Today Smart Link Virtual keyboard supports 41 language layouts.