About Caracteo
Who publishes Caracteo, how key combinations are obtained and checked, and how the site is funded.
Who we are
Caracteo is published by Arcus Factory, a French company (RCS Soissons 842 511 016 00011) based in Blesmes, France. The publication director is Julien Abbé.
Our method
We never copy a key combination from the web, and none is typed in by hand.
- Extraction: a tool reads each keyboard layout definition directly from the operating system (on macOS, the layout data the system itself provides). It computes, key by key and layer by layer (no modifier, Shift, Option, Caps Lock…), which character is produced, dead keys included.
- Inversion: from those tables we compute, for each character, the simplest combination, then the alternatives.
- Automatic verification: on every update, tests replay every published combination on the layout table and check that it produces the stated character. A failing combination blocks publication.
- Traceability: each page states the system version the combinations were extracted from.
That is how we can show differences you will hardly find anywhere else, for example between U.S. and U.S. International – PC.
Editorial policy
- Explanations (uses, pitfalls, typography) are written and then reviewed by a person before publication. Every page shows its last update date; the reviewer’s name and review date appear when a review has taken place.
- Key combinations shown in the text are inserted automatically from the extracted data: the text cannot contradict the keyboard.
- Official character names come from the Unicode Character Database; typographic rules follow each language’s reference style guides.
Corrections
Every character page has a Report a mistake form. Every report is examined; when a page is corrected, its update date changes.
Independence and funding
The site is funded by advertising and, later, by affiliate links to hardware (keyboards, keycap stickers). This income has no influence on the key combinations, which are computed. Caracteo is not affiliated with any hardware maker or operating system vendor.