On-screen keyboards for people with limited hand mobility

If you cannot use a physical keyboard, the built-in Windows on-screen keyboard is usually the first thing you find, and often the last one anybody tells you about. Between it and full AAC systems costing thousands, there is a whole category most people never discover.

This list collects what is actually out there for typing without a physical keyboard on a desktop computer: free tools, paid ones, and a few built for eye tracking or switch access. I have tried to note who each one is for, because "on-screen keyboard" covers products that solve very different problems.

Disclosure: I build one of the products in this space. Everything here is listed on merit, including the ones that compete with mine.

Lukasz Krason
Lukasz KrasonList by Lukasz Krason, last updated 
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  1. Built into the operating system

  2. Always there, no install needed. No word prediction, no dwell click, and it steals focus, so long typing sessions get tiring fast.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
    On-Screen Keyboard for Windows 10
  3. The Linux equivalent. Layouts are customisable and it has basic prediction, but it is tied to GNOME.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
    Onboard on-screen keyboard screenshot 1
  4. Free

  5. Minimal and genuinely free. Good if you need keys on screen and nothing else.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Free Virtual Keyboard screenshot 1
  6. Linux, long-running project, works with switch access.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
    hardware style
    shape style
  7. The old free standard for people who cannot use a physical keyboard. Still works, but development stopped years ago.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
  8. Keylume icon
     Like

    Worth a look if the built-in keyboard is not enough and you do not want to pay.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Keylume screenshot 1
    Keylume screenshot 1
  9. Another free option in this space.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Ubuntu
    'us'-layout.
    'de'-layout.
    Text snippets.
    +1
    Configuration dialog.
  10. Commercial

  11. Paid, feature-heavy, aimed as much at touchscreen kiosks as at accessibility.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Hot Virtual Keyboard screenshot 1
    Hot Virtual Keyboard screenshot 1
    Hot Virtual Keyboard screenshot 2
  12. Built for eye tracking and switch access

  13. OptiKey icon
     Like

    Built for eye tracking, free and open source. The reference point if you control a computer with your eyes.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Windows
    OptiKey screenshot 1
    OptiKey screenshot 1
    OptiKey screenshot 2
    +1
    OptiKey screenshot 3
  14. Dasher icon
     Like

    Not a keyboard at all: you write by steering through letters. Takes practice, very fast once it clicks.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Dasher screenshot 1

If a tool is missing here, tell me in the comments and I will add it.

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