History of Latin International keyboard layout in Timeline

The Latin International keyboard layout, standardized in ISO/IEC 9995-3:2026, is designed for inputting a wide range of characters beyond standard English. This includes diacritical marks, special Latin letters found in various languages, and punctuation symbols necessary for high-quality typography. It facilitates multilingual typing and supports the creation of documents requiring precise character representation.

1988: ANSI INCITS X3.154-1988 US keyboard layout

In 1988, the US standard ANSI INCITS X3.154-1988 defined the common US keyboard layout (ANSI QWERTY), which the "Latin International-A" variant resembles. The key to the right of the space bar is used as an AltGr key instead of an Alt key.

1999: Handbook of the International Phonetic Association (1999 edition)

In 1999, the Handbook of the International Phonetic Association listed phonetic symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).

December 2025: Microsoft Windows keyboard driver model limitations

As of December 2025, the Microsoft Windows keyboard driver model only supports dead key combinations for which individual code points are defined in Unicode (precomposed characters), according to ISO/IEC 9995-11. This covers the common use cases for widely used languages.

January 2026: Publication of ISO/IEC 9995-3:2026

In January 2026, the Latin International keyboard layout was defined and published in the international standard ISO/IEC 9995-3:2026. This layout allows for the input of a wide range of characters, including diacritical marks, special Latin letters, punctuation, and symbols for quality typography.

February 2026: IPA Special Selector key

As of February 2026, the "IPA Special Selector key" (AltGr+g) is used to enter phonetic symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), as listed in the current edition of the Handbook of the International Phonetic Association.

September 2026: Planned inclusion of Latin letters and currency symbols in Unicode 18.0

In September 2026, lowered Latin letters w, y, and z in the "q" group, and currency symbols at W, u, and Z in the "c" group, are scheduled for inclusion in Unicode version 18.0.

September 2026: Planned inclusion of currency symbols in Unicode 18.0

In September 2026, the currency symbols at W, u, and Z are scheduled for inclusion in Unicode version 18.0.

2026: Additional characters via Shift + AltGr

In 2026, according to ISO/IEC 9995-1:2026, some additional characters can be entered by pressing a key together with ⇧ (Shift) + AltGr. These characters, not displayed on keytops, are diacritical marks for transliterations of non-Latin scripts.

2026: Variants of ISO/IEC 9995-3:2026 defined

In 2026, the standard ISO/IEC 9995-3:2026 defines several variants based on different key arrangements. The set and arrangement of the character keys is identical for all variants, while the placement of the AltGr key varies.