Regular use

Solutions with a learning curve

5) AccentCompose (https://www.uskbd.eu) Method: all major European languages supported with national additions for fluent typing, all layouts compatible with each other and switchable, a single Compose file for all languages (uses WinCompose engine), all accents and symbols can be entered with all layouts the same way, sequential composing of accents, no dead accents Pros: low cost (5 €), mnemonic cues for composing accented letters, most US keys retained, only 3 keys reserved for each national layout, ready-to-use custom set of compose sequences, exhaustive documentation, customizable Cons: while accents are easy to memorize, some symbol sequences require the use a Cheat Sheet (punctuation, logic and math, IPA, etc.) 6) WinCompose (https://github.com/samhocevar/wincompose) Method: Windows compose engine with compose sequences from Xorg and XCompose projects Pros: free, ready-to-run with lots of alternate sequences, customizable Cons: many alternate sequences may confuse users 7) US-International keyboard (included in Windows) Method: dead-key accent input, AltGr(Right-ALT) + key Pros: free, fairly intuitive accents, extensive set of special keys Cons: many dead-key accents are on shifted position, special keys difficult to memorize and in odd places (e.g. AltGr+Q=Ä, AltGr+P=Ö, etc.), steep learning curve 8) EurKEY (https://eurkey.steffen.bruentjen.eu/start.html) Method: dead-key accent input, AltGr(Right-ALT) + key Pros: free, fairly intuitive accents, extensive set of special keys Cons: many dead-key accents are on shifted position, special keys difficult to memorize and in odd places (e.g. AltGr+Q=Æ, AltGr+P=Œ, etc.), steep learning curve 9) Qwerty-fr (https://github.com/qwerty-fr/qwerty-fr,  https://qwerty-fr.org) Method: dead-key accent input, AltGr(Right-ALT) + key Pros: free, fairly intuitive accents, extensive set of special keys Cons: many dead-key accents are on shifted position, special keys difficult to memorize and in odd places (e.g. AltGr+z=ä, AltGr+P=Œ, etc.), steep learning curve 10) Swerty – Swedish keyboard layout for US keyboards (https://johanegustafsson.net/projects/swerty) Method: US layout with Å, Ä, and Ö as in the Swedish/Finnish layout, replacing: ;/:, '/" and [/{ (which in turn are produced by AltGr(Right- ALT) + key). Dead keys for accent input in the style of the Swedish/Finnish layout. Pros: free, fairly intuitive accents, easy to learn for users of the Swedish/Finnish standard layout Cons: some dead-key accents are on shifted position, limited set of special keys

Mac-type solutions

11) TypeIt app (https://www.typeit.org/app) Method: tap Alt+key one or several times to get the accented character or symbol, alternatively use Ctrl-tapping to modify the output Pros: easy to use, intuitive, basic keyboard function remains unaltered, language-based keyboard switching possible for different sets of symbols Cons: price ($15 basic, $25 with IPA), hunt-and-guess instead of direct input of a certain symbol, input limited to one keyboard's symbols at a time 12) EasyType French Accents  (https://www.easytypefrenchaccents.com) Method: tap character key one or several times to get the different accented characters (e é è ê ë) (use shift to stop this behaviour to type 'ee') Pros: price ($10), extremely simple to use Cons: limited functionality (only for typing French on an English keyboard)

Solutions compared

Character Map UWP is a versatile solution for entering single characters, much better than the Windows Character Map, e.g. the Find function lets you locate a Unicode character by name, and you can export the character shape as a picture for graphical applications. Typeit is good for entering small passages in a language you do not have the keyboard for. Just copy and paste the result into word processing or email applications. Insert symbol in MS-Word may be all you need if you just want to type café on a US keyboard. Uosk can be useful for setting up a palette of symbols needed in a project. US-International keyboard as well as EurKEY and Qwerty-fr have all the characters but they are oddly placed and difficult to memorize. Swerty and EasyType French Accents are suited only for a particular language pair, and not truly international. TypeIt app is easy to use but the hunt-and-guess method of input puts it more in the category of casual solutions. This leaves us with WinCompose and AccentCompose. Both share the same Compose engine and are international. WinCompose works with all Windows keyboard layouts adding typical Linux compose sequences. You can replace them with your own set of compose sequences. In AccentCompose, the tweaking of compose sequences has been done for you. There is a carefully selected set of unique custom compose sequences and matching set of national keyboard layouts for all major European languages. You can change national layouts on the fly, say from German to French, without affecting the way accented letters are produced. National layouts have the most important additions for each language (e,g, German: ö ä ü; French: é è à) but you can always type all accented letters with any of the national layouts, and the basic layout remains the same for all languages. Both WinCompose and AccentCompose compose sequences are fully editable and extensible. If a sign is missing, it can be easily added to the system.