Installing the Canadian French layout
If Mediekey is more than you need to start, you can just install the Canadian French layout and get started. For that, you need:
- Windows (probably not a single language version unless the language is set to French)
- A physical Canadian French keyboard like the HP French-Canadian SK806a keyboard, Dell KB216T C36YV, or Canadian French version of the WASD V3 105-Key ISO Custom Mechanical Keyboard. (Sorry, the Windows touch screen keyboard doesn't have enough keys, has its own ideas about layout, and it's not fun to use it for complicated combinations anyway.)
If you just plug in the keyboard, it will work, but the letters produced by typing won't match the legends on the keys. To make it work correctly, you need to tell Windows which keyboard type you are using.
Installing a keyboard through Windows Settings is a multi-step process. You need to get to the Language Settings, either by going to Windows Settings (Figure 1), clicking Time & Date, and then clicking on Language, or by typing "Language Settings" in the search bar in the taskbar. Either way should bring you to Figure 2, the Language Settings dialog.
Figure 1 - Windows Settings, Time & Language highlighted.
Figure 2 - Language Settings, inside Time & Language.
While you can install the Canadian French keyboard as your primary keyboard in English, I find it easier to remember what I'm doing when I have Français (Canada) installed as a preferred language and switch between languages. If you have not already done this, click on "Add a preferred language" and add it. Once you have done that, select it as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3 - Français (Canada) installed. You don't need the other languages that I have installed here.
If you click on Français (Canada), an Options button like the one in Figure 4 will appear.
Figure 4 - Getting to Options.
Click on Options, and you'll get the French (Canada) - for some reason it is no longer Français (Canada) - dialog box. Scroll down to keyboards, as shown in Figure 5
Figure 5 - Finally, keyboard options.
Click on "+Add a Keyboard", and you'll see a list of keyboards that should resemble Figure 6. You may need to scroll through the list to find it, and click on it.
Figure 6 - Keyboard options, including Canadian French.
You will probably also want to remove whatever keyboard Windows installed as a default for French (Canada). Figure 7 shows what happens if you click on a keyboard, in particular the Remove button you can click to take that keyboard out of your options. (It doesn't uninstall the layout, just gets it out of your way.)
Figure 7 - Removing an unwanted keyboard.
Finally, you have Canadian French installed and available, as shown in Figure 8. You can now close the language settings dialog.
Figure 8 - Canadian French installed.
Canadian French is now available, but Windows won't automatically use it unless you're already working in Français (Canada). I keep the language and keyboard selector in the bottom right of the taskbar, as shown in Figure 9, but you can also summon it by pressing the Windows key and the spacebar. You'll get the menu in Figure 10, where you should select French (Canada) Canadian French keyboard. Figure 11 shows the selected result.
Figure 9 - Currently selected language.
Figure 10 - Picking French (Canada) and Canadian French.
Figure 11 - French (Canada) and Canadian French selected.
Now, with a physical keyboard connected, you can test out Canadian French in your favorite text editor or word processor. The fonts and general appearance may vary slightly, but if you were used to standard US English keyboards, you should now be set up to enter a lot more characters than you likely had before!