What steno layout does this use?

It uses the left-hand initial-consonant bank of the standard Stenotype or Plover steno keyboard: S, T, K, P, W, H, R. Letters that have a dedicated key map to that key, and the remaining consonants are written as the briefing combination of keys that produce them, such as TK for D and PW for B.

Is this real court reporting theory?

It captures the standard left-bank chord briefs but is simplified for learning. Full machine shorthand also uses a vowel bank (A, O, E, U), a right-hand bank, and thousands of word and phrase briefs. This tool focuses on the letter-to-chord mapping of the initial consonants.

How are vowels handled?

Vowels A, O, E, and U map to their own keys on the vowel bank and are shown as single keys. The vowel I is briefed on the steno keyboard and is shown as its standard EU combination.

What does a plus sign or hyphen mean in the output?

Keys joined together with no separator are pressed in the same chord. A letter's chord is the set of keys struck simultaneously, so TK means the T and K keys are pressed together to brief the letter D.

What happens to digits and punctuation?

Letters are converted to chords and separated by spaces. Spaces in the input separate words, and digits or punctuation are passed through unchanged because they are entered differently on a steno machine.

Chord Keyboard Encoder

A chord keyboard, like a stenotype machine, types whole sounds by pressing several keys at once instead of one key per character. This encoder shows the steno-style chord for each letter using the standard left-hand initial-consonant bank, so you can see which keys combine to brief letters that have no dedicated key of their own.

How it works

The left-bank keys are S T K P W H R. Consonants that exist directly map to a single key; the rest are written as the classic steno brief — a combination of those keys pressed together:

direct: S=S  T=T  K=K  P=P  W=W  H=H  R=R
briefs: B=PW  D=TK  F=TP  G=TKPW  J=SKWR  L=HR
        M=PH  N=TPH  V=SR  X=KP  Y=KWR  Z=STKPWHR
vowels: A=A  O=O  E=E  U=U  I=EU

Each letter’s chord is the set of keys struck at the same time; keys are written together with no separator, and letters are separated by spaces in the output.

Example and notes

The word DOG becomes TK O TKPW — D is briefed as the T and K keys together, O is its own vowel key, and G is the four-key brief T-K-P-W. This is a teaching view of how chorded entry packs many keystrokes into one stroke; real machine shorthand layers vowels, a right-hand bank, and dictionary briefs on top to reach court-reporting speeds of 200+ words per minute.