Accents and other diacritics

Here are some recommended solutions for students who need to type with accents and diacritics. Some of these solutions are device-specific.

Option 1: Press and hold method

Simply press and hold the key on which you'd like the accent to appear, and several options will come up above the letter, like this:

When you see the type of accent you'd like to add, just type that number and the accent will be added to the letter, or you can also use the left and right arrow keys (and enter) to select which one you want.

Option 2: The Option Key Accent Method on Mac

The Option key helps you add all kinds of accents and diacritical marks to your text. Just press and hold the Option key (the same as the Alt key), then press the "e" key, and then release them both and press the letter key to which you'd like to add the accent.

For example, if you'd like to add an acute accent ( ´ ) to the letters a, e, i, o, or u, you'd press Option + e, and then the letter to which you'd like to add the accent. So, Option + e + a gets you á.

Use Google Chrome to access Extempore and download an Accent Keyboard extension. We recommend downloading Accent Press and following the steps below to type the accents in your target language.

Option 1: Go to Accent Press and click Add to Chrome. This will add Accent Press as an extension to Chrome on your device.

Open the settings for your extensions, click on the é icon, and choose which languages you want. This tells the extension which accents to enable or not.

Once you have selected your target language, to type an accent, hold down the physical key on your keyboard (for example, the E key to type é). Type as you would normally, just hold down the accents longer than normal.

Step 1: When you need to add an accent or other diacritic, press and hold the desired letter on your keypad. Once you hold down, options for adding diacritics appear for that letter above.

Step 2: Slide your finger up to the appropriate letter when it appears. Highlight the correct letter, then release your finger to add it to your text.

One option that is not device-specific is Extempore's Language Keyboard.
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Teachers can enable Extempore's on-screen Language Keyboard for students to add accents and other diacritics in text responses.
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To enable the Language Keyboard, click on your profile in the top right corner and select Preferences. Check the box next to Enable Language Keyboard.

The on-screen language keyboard will appear for students only during questions that require a written response. Click the following link to read the student article about using the Language Keyboard.
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Teachers can see the language keyboard in action by clicking View As a Student and selecting a writing question.