Editing Acute accent (section)

== Keyboard input ==
{{further|Unicode input}}
{{main|List of QWERTY keyboard language variants}}
[[Keyboard (computing)|Computer keyboard]]s  sold in many countries have an [[AltGr]] ('alternate graphic') key (or [[Option key]]) which adds a third and (with the [[Shift key]]) fourth effect to most keys. Thus {{keypress|AltGr|a}} produces {{char|á}} and {{keypress|AltGr|A}} produces {{char|Á}}.  (Most languages require [[diacritic]]s ('accents') and thus an 'extended' or national [[keyboard mapping]] is required. Where US standard keyboards are supplied, typically it is controlled by a localised keyboard mapping so that the right-Alt key behaves as an AltGr key.)

Because keyboards have only a limited number of keys, US standard keyboards do not have keys for accented characters. An alternative method is the '[[dead key]]', a key that modifies the meaning of the next key press. This method was used with [[typewriter]]s where, when the typist typed an accent, the [[typewriter carriage|carriage]] did not move as usual with the effect that the next letter would be written on the same place on the paper. An appropriate keyboard mapping (such as [[US-International]]) provides this function via the right-hand [[Alt key]]. Thus {{keypress|RightAlt|'}} (apostrophe) is a dead key so appears to have no effect until the next key is pressed, when it adds the desired acute accent.