Why do you need to install a special keyboard and font?

Many First Nations languages require a number of characters that are not available on the standard English keyboard. To type these characters, you must install:

1. A virtual keyboard (a program which reorganizes the characters available on your physical keyboard)

2. A good font that renders characters in Indigenous languages properly

For some characters to appear properly at all, you must be using Windows XP or Mac 10.2 or higher. These operating systems support the Unicode standard, which is the system that allows all characters to be displayed properly and consistently across different devices and the internet. Earlier PC and Mac operating systems do not support Unicode technology sufficiently. Even if you are using a recent operating system, not all of your applications will necessarily be Unicode compliant.

Installing the correct font

It is important to use a font that includes designs for all Indigenous special characters. If the font you are using does not include a design for a character that is typed, then it may look like you are typing a white box instead. FirstVoices uses the font BC Sans, which renders all characters used in BC languages.

1. Click here to download the BC Sans font

2. Once the download is complete, unzip the font

3. Open the unzipped font folder to see the "Regular", "Bold", "Italic", and "BoldItalic" font files

4. For PC computers with Windows 7, 8, 10

   • Double click the font file and Font Viewer will open a preview of the font

   • Right click on the font file and click “Install”

   • Repeat for each of the four font files in order to be able to use regular, bold, italic, and bold+italic fonts

   For Mac computers

   • Double click the unzipped font file and Font Book will open a preview of the font

   • Click “Install Font” at the bottom of the preview window

5. You may need to restart your computer for the font to be available in all applications

Installing the correct keyboard

On a phone or tablet

If you are installing the FirstVoices keyboard for your language on mobile devices, such as a phone or tablet, you can download the FirstVoices Keyboards app on for iPhone/iPad or Android. Search for "FirstVoices" in the App Store for iPhone/iPad or in the Google Play Store for Android.

On a computer

Installing the FirstVoices keyboard for your language on a computer will be done through a keyboard software called Keyman. Go to https://keyman.com and follow along with the instructions in the following videos. If you are not sure what language keyboard you are looking for, check the list of FirstVoices keyboards at the bottom of this page.

Install keyboards on Mac computer

Install keyboards on a Windows PC

Using keyboards on Chromebooks

If you are installing your keyboard on a Chromebook, Keyman keyboards are not currently compatible. However, if the model of your Chromebook has Tablet Mode, then you can use the FirstVoices Keyboard App from the Google Play store when the Chromebook is in tablet mode. And for Chromebooks that don't have tablet mode, a FirstVoices Chromebook extension is now available for some keyboards. If you would like your keyboard added to the Chromebook extension, email us at hello@firstvoices.com

Finding your language keyboard

If you are interested in the keyboard for a particular FirstVoices language site, click on your language site name in the list below to go to the page for your keyboard on Keyman. You can install directly from these pages.

If you are looking for another keyboard, you can go directly to Keyman.com and search for the name of your language.