Editing AltGr key (section)

=== Poland ===
Typewriters in [[Poland]] used a [[QWERTZ]] layout specifically designed for the [[Polish language]] with [[diacritic|accented]] letters in the [[Polish alphabet]] obtainable directly. When personal computers became available worldwide in the 1980s, commercial importing into Poland was not supported by its communist government, so most machines in Poland were brought in by private individuals. Most had US keyboards, and various methods were devised to make available the accented Polish letters. An established method was to configure the [[Alt key|right{{nbsp}}Alt]] key as an AltGr key and to use it in combination with a Latin base letter to obtain the equivalent [[precomposed character]] (accented form of the letter). 
* {{keypress|AltGr|A}} → <big>[[ą]]</big>
* {{keypress|AltGr|C}} → <big>[[ć]]</big>
* {{keypress|AltGr|E}} → <big>[[ę]]</big>
* {{keypress|AltGr|L}} → <big>[[ł]]</big>
* {{keypress|AltGr|N}} → <big>[[ń]]</big>
* {{keypress|AltGr|O}} → <big>[[ó]]</big>
* {{keypress|AltGr|S}} → <big>[[ś]]</big>
* {{keypress|AltGr|U}} → <big>[[€]]</big>
* {{keypress|AltGr|X}} → <big>[[ź]]</big> 
* {{keypress|AltGr|Z}} → <big>[[ż]]</big>
(Because there are two types of "z with [[diacritic]]" ({{char|ź}} and {{char|ż}}), {{keypress|AltGr|X}} is a special case.)

At the time of the [[Fall of communism]] and opening of commercial import channels this practice was so widespread that it was adopted as the de facto standard. Nowadays nearly all PCs in Poland have standard US keyboards and use the AltGr method to enter Polish diacritics. This [[keyboard mapping]] is referred to as the ''Polish programmers' layout'' (''{{lang|pl|klawiatura polska programisty}}'') or simply ''Polish layout''.

Another layout is still used on typewriters, mostly by professional typists. Computer keyboards with this layout are available, though difficult to find, and supported by a number of operating systems; they are known as ''Polish typists' layout'' (''{{lang|pl|klawiatura polska maszynistki}}''). Older Polish versions of [[Microsoft Windows]] used this layout, describing it as ''Polish layout''. On current versions it is referred to as ''Polish (214)''.