Best Free Onscreen Keyboard

As the name implies, an On-Screen Keyboard (OSK) is a virtual keyboard that is displayed on the computer screen.  It is used as an alternative to the physical keyboard, so people can "type" by using a mouse or other input device. 

As a general rule, there are two main reasons why someone would want to use an on-screen keyboard (OSK):

1. Assistive: As a physical keyboard replacement:
   • A user may not be able to use a physical keyboard - they may use accessibility devices such as switches and pointing devices, or may be using a touch screen, or
   • A user may choose to use an alternative way of entering keystrokes - they may wish to use their native language on a foreign-language machine.
2. Security: To enhance their security and protect against malicious software (like keyloggers). 
   
   • Security OSKs are often used to offer the user extra protection when using public, unprotected, or potentially suspect computers (eg. at libraries and internet cafès).
   • Security OSKs can help to protect against malicious software that may have a combination of the following features:
     • Keylogging - where the physical keyboard activity is logged,
     • Screen logging - where screenshots are taken at regular periods, or taken every time the mouse is clicked,
     • Clipboard logging - where the clipboard is actively monitored,
     • Mouse Position logging - where the coordinates of mouse clicks may be captured; this is primarily used to defeat web-based banking OSKs, and
     • A technique I call 'field scraping' - where the program may 'scrape' or 'grab' the value of a text box, even if the text box has a password in it and covered by the **** password mask.

The good news is that there are some great, free programs that will assist with both of these needs.

However, I want to stress that people should use the right tool for the job; use OSKs that are designed for accessibility for that purpose.  Use OSKs that are designed for malicious software protection for security purposes. 

Accessibility OSKs do not offer any real protection against malicious software, just as security-focused OSKs do not offer much functionality as keyboard replacements. 

In addition, Security OSKs should be seen as part of your overall security regime, to assist, but not replace other security software (like firewalls, anti-virus, anti-malware applications).

I. Best On Screen Keyboard for Assistive Purposes

Microsoft On-Screen Keyboard The Microsoft On-Screen keyboard is mentioned first, primarily because it is well known and installed in Windows by default. It can be found in Start / All Programs / Accessories / Accessibility / On Screen Keyboard or alternatively from Windows key + U.

It has a very clean interface and allows for extended keyboard layouts of 101, 102 and 106 keys, as well as the standard layout (where the number pad and center keys are omitted to save space).

The Microsoft On-Screen Keyboard sends the 'button presses' to the active application, just as keys had been typed in a physical keyboard.  In addition to allowing entry by clicking on-screen keys, the Microsoft OSK allows for hover entry.  This is useful as keys can be 'typed' by simply hovering, or dwelling the cursor over a key.  When hovering, a cleverly implemented progress bar is drawn on the on-screen key, so you know how long you have to hover to register (or how long you have to get off the key if you don't want to register a keystroke). 

It must be noted that Microsoft OSK does not resize at all - I see this as being a serious limiting factor for some users without fine motor control, or users who want to use an OSK with touch screens.  Fonts can be changed, but this doesn't alter OSK size.  Font colors must be altered in the operating system.

Different languages are catered for in the Microsoft On-Screen Keyboard, but really only when the operating system has that language selected.  I suspect that this is fine for most users, but this means that if you're using an internet cafe computer in another country, the Microsoft On-Screen keyboard won't speak your language unless you change the Windows settings (which will probably be locked off in the internet cafe computer in any case). 

The Microsoft On-Screen Keyboard allows for scanning, which is very useful for people who use switches, joysticks or single keyboard keys instead of the mouse to use the OSK.  The Microsoft On-Screen Keyboard's block layout really improves the speed of scanning by grouping keys into four vertical block segments.  This ends up making  the key selection faster and all keys are now accessible within three key switch presses.

Click-N-Type is an excellent free OSK that rivals many commercial OSKs in the accessibility space.  It is highly functional and very customizable, but isn't terribly pretty and the breadth of options may be a little daunting for some users.

Like the Microsoft On-Screen Keyboard, Click-N-Type sends the 'button presses' to the active application, but unlike the Microsoft On-Screen Keyboard, it will note the name of the active application in the title bar (a handy addition).

The keyboard can be resized easily, and the fonts scale whilst doing so.  This should suit many users of assistive technology, and those who would like a resizable keyboard for use with a touch computer.

There are many language and keyboard layout packs available, and you can even download a free utility from their website to customize your own.  Click-N-Type shows the correct characters for each language's needs - this means that, for example, a Japanese language pack will show Japanese characters on the keys (regardless of what language has been set in Windows).  This will be of great use to people wanting to use a native keyboard on a foreign computer.  

Click-N-Type has has an effective predictive text engine (as a separate free download) that works really quite well.  Users can add and change words by editing the language file in a word processor or notepad.

A feature called "Autoclick" allows users to perform hover delay entry.  Delay and repeat times are very configurable. A macro feature is also available, where users can record (and playback) a sequence of letters.

Click-N-Type does offer scanning.  The scanning method is a little difficult to pick up and initially a little counter-intuitive, but is nonetheless a logical design choice given the many layouts on offer.  

Free Virtual Keyboard is an OSK that seems to have been designed with pen computing in mind, and should be of good value to people using touch/pen screens and assistive pointing devices.

From this perspective, Free Virtual Keyboard is well designed. The OSK presents the 'standard' keyboard layout (minus the arrow keys and number pad) and the keyboard itself resizes really well, with good font resizing.  

Free Virtual Keyboard has a slider control that allows users to alter the OSK transparency from almost 100% opaque to almost 100% transparent.  This is a great feature addition - particularly when there is a lack of screen space. One minor point on this; Free Virtual Keyboard can go very transparent - perhaps too transparent. On occasion it was a little hard to see the almost-invisible slider to make the OSK opaque again. 

In comparison with other assistive OSKs, Free Virtual Keyboard does have some limitations; it doesn't support all languages (in my testing, English and French were auto detected, Japanese was not), and it doesn't offer any hover delay entry or scanning features.  Still, when viewed from a pen computing perspective, Free Virtual Keyboard is worth considering.  

Dasher: I love how innovative Dasher is - it's an OSK, minus the keyboard.  Let me explain.  The team at the Inference Group at Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, have developed a way for people to enter text by using alternative methods.  From the Dasher website:  
"[Dasher can be used]
- when operating a computer one-handed, by joystick, touchscreen, trackball, or mouse;
- when operating a computer with zero hands (i.e., by head-mouse or by eyetracker);
- on a palmtop computer;
- on a wearable computer
The eyetracking version of Dasher allows an experienced user to write text as fast as normal handwriting - 29 words per minute; using a mouse, experienced users can write at 39 words per minute."

It takes a little getting used to, but I found that I improved quite quickly with a bit of practice.  You 'steer' your mouse toward the next letter you need, and the letters 'fly' toward the cursor from the right of the screen. Don't click, don't drag, just steer or drive to the next letter.  And don't be afraid to cut corners or go back (you'll see what I mean when you use it).  

All letters are in alphabetical order, top to bottom, lower case to upper case, but Dasher presents the next letter with a size that is proportional to the probability of you needing it next.  What this means is that the most used letter will be a bigger target to steer towards.  In the screenshot above, you'll see the letters 'm-a-r-k-e-t' to the left of the centre line - these are letters already registered.  To the right of the centre line you'll see the letters 'i-n-g'.  It is highly probable that the letters 'i', then 'n' then 'g' will follow the entered word 'market', which is why the 'i' is larger than all other letters (except the space, represented by a square).

Continuing the use of the driving analogy, when the letters are 'run over', they are registered at the top of the screen to build the words, sentences and paragraphs.  This may be saved later as text files or cut-pasted into other applications.

Dasher supports many languages, and can also improve its predictive capabilities by learning the words you use often.

II. Best On Screen Keyboard for Security Purposes

Neo's SafeKeys 2008 is a security-focused OSK that uses drag-and-drop to move SafeKeys-generated passwords to applications and web browsers.

SafeKeys offers many features to give users a choice between safety (with mouse-only entry modes), and ease of use (with keyboard entry modes).  However, there are so many features that I believe some non-tech users could be confused. 

When using the safest modes - the mouse only modes - SafeKeys does offer very good security.  It protects against keyloggers, clipboard loggers and mouse position loggers.  It provides protection from screen loggers with the hover entry and hidden mouse features (screen loggers that take pictures on mouse clicks will be defeated as the user doesn't click and screen loggers that take shots at regular intervals won't know whether you're passing over a key or whether you're registering a key press), as well as defeating the common two of the four mechanisms that screen loggers can use to take screenshots.  The password field is protected and I am yet to find any malware that can defeat the drag-drop mechanism.

Perhaps the most limiting factor of Neo's SafeKeys is that some applications have not been programmed to accept drag-drop.  This means that SafeKeys will work with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and others, but not Opera, KeePass, Roboform or World of Warcraft.

Neo's SafeKeys 2008 Security Overview

Keylogger protection	Clipboard logger protection	Screen logger protection	Password field protection	Overall Security score
Great - Keyboard not used	Great - Clipboard not used	Partial - Common 2/4 capture methods	Great - fully protected

TrendSecure Transaction Guard protects against malware by offering two main features; an OSK and a utility that monitors for spyware.  The OSK can only be used to transfer data between the OSK and a web form; that is, it cannot transfer URLs to the address bar or other parts of web browsers, and it can only be used with Internet Explorer and Firefox, but works great within these limitations.

Transaction Guard is run from the TrendSecure website, and is downloaded each time you run it.  It cannot be run through a proxy and cannot be stored offline, which may be limiting for some users.  The OSK itself is easy to use, being a standard keyboard layout where users click keys, but the process of using the 'password clipboard' mechanism to transfer usernames/passwords to web forms isn't very intuitive and takes some getting used to.

Transaction Guard is quite secure; protecting users from keyloggers and clipboard loggers (the 'password clipboard' doesn't use the Windows clipboard at all) and the password fields are protected.  Transaction Guard doesn't offer any protection from screen loggers or mouse position loggers.

Transaction Guard's spyware monitor is a welcome addition, but there are other better (and free) tools that perform this function.

TrendSecure Transaction Guard Security Overview

Keylogger protection	Clipboard logger protection	Screen logger protection	Password field protection	Overall Security score
Great - Keyboard not used	Great - Clipboard not used	None	Great - fully protected

Mouse Only Keyboard (aka MOK) is an OSK that uses the clipboard to move MOK-generated passwords other applications or web browsers, and offers protection against clipboard hooks.

I like how MOK offers all lowercase letters, uppercase letters, numbers and symbols on the screen at one time, and how it allows you to enter custom characters.  However, I do acknowledge that some people may find the 'keyboard as a list' concept a little confusing.

From a security perspective, MOK transmits passwords via the Windows Clipboard, so it needs to be an effective anti-clipboard logger, but it only partially delivers in this regard.  It does defeat clipboard loggers that use the hook technique, but it is ineffective against clipboard loggers that poll the clipboard for updates.  In addition, the password field is vulnerable 'field scraping' - the password can be captured from underneath the **** password hash.  I see these issues as quite serious flaws in MOK's design.
MOK does not offer any protection against mouse position loggers and screen loggers.
 

Mouse Only Keyboard Security Overview

Keylogger protection	Clipboard logger protection	Screen logger protection	Password field protection	Overall Security score
Great - Keyboard not used	Partial - Common 1 of 2 capture methods	None	None

 Related to Security and On-Screen Keyboards:

• How to Improve Your Security When Using a Public Terminal
• Probably the Best Free Security List in the World

 Other free programs worth looking at:

• Tapir.  An assistive on-screen keyboard with an entry method similar to mobile phones.  Has very good predictive text capabilities.  Produced by the same team as Dasher.  (Open Source)

There are four major ways to send feedback: registered users can contact me directly here or in the forum under Contact Info. Registered users may also post in the forum. And anyone can post a comment at the bottom of this page.

In the interests of openness, Gizmo’s Freeware would like to acknowledge that the author of this article is associated with Aplin Software – makers of Neo’s SafeKeys.

This article has been vetted by other Gizmo’s Freeware editors to ensure review accuracy and fairness.

On-Screen Keyboard, Assistive Technologies, Predictive Text , Security, Keylogger, Screenlogger, Clipboard Logger, Password Logger, Anti-malware