Increasing the usability of text entry in mobile devices for european languages and languages used in Europe

Abstract

Entering text through the 12-key keypad of mobile devices is one of the biggest usability challenges of mobile phone use. The user's problem is potentially increased if the text to be entered contains language-specific letters not included in the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, as users cannot be sure which key of the 12-key keypad the letter they wish to enter is associated to. ETSI, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, has published in 2003 a standard (ES 202 130) that specifies the assignment of characters on the 12-key telephone keypad for a range of European languages. That standard for letters, digits and special characters (such as the Euro symbol and punctuation marks) covered the official languages of the EU and EFTA members, Russia, as well as countries with applicant status for the EU at that time. This paper describes the further development of the standard to cover other major languages spoken in Europe including official languages, minority languages and immigrants' languages. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.