An ISO keyboard is ideal, but an ANSI keyboard will work perfectly well. Most people go for the standard ANSI option, the only real difference is the location of Z, which is a rare key and so doesn't really matter very much. If you are in the US, then ISO boards are quite rare, but they can still be found I believe.

Typing on a phone is a totally different skill, and the advantages of Colemak are not great on a touch screen. Despite not having used Qwerty on physical keyboards for several years now, I still find Qwerty with swype works adequately on phones. Or you could take a look at something like MessageEase. If you want to type a lot on Android and use a hardware keyboard, take a look at these Mod-DH layouts for hardware keyboards.

I echo what DreymaR says regarding Extend. It's the best thing since... um.. even before sliced bread! Sliced bread was never a particularly great innovation anyway.

Wide mod is also good if you are using a traditional one-piece keyboard, but not necessary if (like me) you have a split keyboard.

Indeed! I only meant to say that if I were to use a Colemak variant (be it wide or not), it'd be a huge bonus if the layout I use on my phone would be similar to it. So I mean, even if I ever go with DH/ANSI/Wide, not having the symbols in the center of the keyboard on my phone keyboard shouldn't be a problem (I think) but at least the letter order should be the same, like, it should show,

Q W F P B J L U Y
 A R S T G K N E I O
  X C D V Z M H

but that's what's troubling me. There's no official support for the Mod DH on Android. MessagEase seems interesting. Even though it isn't your usual keyboard, I'll check it out :) I have not much need for gestures anyway, as I speak in 3 different languages all the time, so gesture doesn't always work and text prediction also rarely works (and most importantly, those two just aren't my thing XD ) Thanks!

I'm from the Philippines, and ISO keyboards are virtually nonexistent--except for this keyboard that I once bought for my desktop which died soon after, which I only realized last night to be an ISO keyboard. I bought it from some cheap Chinese store and I highly doubt I'll see another one of those keyboards again, as I've seen countless keyboards in my life and that keyboard is the only ISO keyboard I saw.

Well, unfortunately, I don't use swipe-style input at all, and I don't think I will. Just right now I switched my Android to QWERTY and I'm literally typing at like, less that 20 WPM. It's confusing. Although I kinda feel that if I use something like MessagEase (which doesn't resemble the usual keyboard [which reminds me of Japanese kana/flick input--I often type in Japanese]), I won't get confused as typing on computer and phone will seem like two completely different things.

I'm really interested in trying this Extend thing, but I Googled and yet I still don't know what it is and how to try it. Can someone please explain what it is and how I can try it? I'm on Windows 10, and I really don't have the money to buy any extra hardware. The only thing I have is my laptop and its (ANSI) keyboard, and one extra (ISO) keyboard.

Yep, I use a traditional one-piece keyboard (and believe me, I would have already bought a mechanical keyboard or some ergo ones if I had the money). I'm willing to use the wide mod. Would you recommend it compared to the standard mod?

Thanks for explaining things to me--I really appreciate it!

I'm really happy that I did the switch to colemac caw ed, it's just the most comfortable keyboard layout I've used, and even more for typing on a laptop, the thing about the wide part of the keyboard is not only good for the lesser distance for the shift keys, but also it feels like it scrunches my shoulders less together while typing on the laptop, which really is a plus.

I settled with Colemak-CAW[eD] with Extend on ANSI, with the Z moved to QWERTY B.
Thank you very much! It'll take some time to get used to, but it shouldn't be too hard :)
The fact that my right index finger is not on a notched key makes it all the more awkward but hey, as long as it benefits me in the end!

A question, though. My number row is like this.

` 1 2 3 4 5 6 = 7 8 9 0 -

Isn't that supposed to be

` 1 2 3 4 5 = 6 7 8 9 0 -

as shown on the Mod DH homepage?

Unless of course it was intentional. In that case I have no questions :)

Reading more about Colemak CAW eD, this is probably the best keyboard mod I have ever seen. And Extend is just plain awesome. Simply the best duo!

Sad thing is I'm back at 20 WPM. Oh, well. No problem. I used to be just 8 WPM when I first started learning Colemak :D
The fact that I need to move my left hand left-wards (if there is such a word) whenever pressing the lower keys (because of the wide mod) is very confusing but I'll get used to it in time :)

Here's my modded QWERTY keyboard, originally modded to Colemak. That time, I decided to add the notches using glue (just like you said) and it does do the job, so I guess it's okay :) I then modded it today for CAW[eD].

This is the only ISO keyboard that I have seen in my entire life :D
Because of that, even though this is an ISO keyboard, I treat it as if it's ANSI, because using two different keyboard layouts will confuse the hell out of me.
Not to mention that there are a few times that I will need to use another person's keyboard and it will definitely be an ANSI one, and what'd I do if I got used to ISO? I'd really not want to hunt-and peck in QWERTY :D

So it was intentional. I see.
Thinking deeply, I think I agree with "6=7". It just looks better, and I think I'll choose it for no good reason, besides that it just looks better. Also, I'm left-handed, so more load on the left hand should be better :-)
I almost never press the equals key anyway, so to be honest, I guess it doesn't matter. No offense. The "/" key is more worthy of a debate if you were to ask me, but I like it the way it is now. I'd press it with my right hand's left index finger.

Just right now, I'm already feeling the comfort offered by the Mod DH, so even if I'm still typing slowly, I believe I'll love this even more than standard Colemak :-)
(Shh. Between you and me, I like it better because the first letter of my name, K, is now on the home row ;-)  ) Just kidding XD

Anyway, it's been a long journey. Many thanks again to you people for your suggestions.
I always believed that more popular is not always equal to better--and you just proved that QWERTY really shouldn't be the dominant keyboard. At least that's what I think.

Man, I love how I can move the cursor using U, E, N, and I using Extend! Just awesome!

The added benefit of using PKL is also that the Japanese input method that I use is also rearranged to CAW[eD]. Now this is the proper way to type Japanese in Colemak, instead of changing the kana table mappings LOL

You mean, RightBracket?

Yeah, my laptop is ANSI, which I use a lot more than this dirt-cheap keyboard which turned out to be ISO.

Yep, it's awesome! I will indeed try to take advantage of it, and I like how I can control music with the external keyboard--I used to lean forward to press Fn+Play/Pause on my laptop to control music playback! Now I can just Ext+F1/F2/F3 :D

(Is the Wide shift already in place) ? no : yes;   ;-)

Yeah, programmer or not I'd leave the = key at the longest stretch. I find that I blind type symbol keys less even now or at least take more pause before typing them, so they're easier to hit because of the broken flow. Numbers may be speed typed, equal/plus signs usually not. However, for intense numeric entry I'd recommend the second Extend (NumPad) layer. Unfortunately, PKL doesn't support that yet but I've used it with my TMK device.

Good choice in accepting Extend as well! You won't regret it.

Regarding = and 6, IMO this is a minor detail, and I figure that anyone getting into mods far enough to adopt Colemak, angle mod, wide mod, and Mod-DH, is probably the kind of person who won't have too much trouble making up their own mind it and adjusting if necessary :P

There isn't consistency which side 6 belongs. I am a fan of split keyboards, and mainly use a Matias Ergo Pro which puts 6 on the right. But there is, for example, the Kinesis Freestyle2 which puts it on the left. This issue was discussed by the UHK guys a while back, they seem to have decided on left as well. If you use a split matrix board though, you'd probably want it on the right.

Arguably with split keyboards, the need for the wide mod is reduced anyway. But the thing is, if you get used to the 6 being on a certain side, there's no harm in keeping it there. So overall I'd probably advise to put it on whichever side you are used to typing it with.