A dedicated symbol for 'backspace' exists as U+232B ⌫ but its use as a keyboard label is not universal. Some software like TeX or Microsoft Windows use the opposite method for diacritical marks, namely positioning the accent first, and then the base letter on its position.Īlthough the term 'backspace' is the traditional name of the key which deletes the character to the left of the cursor, the actual key may be labeled in a variety of ways, for example delete, Erase (for example in One Laptop Per Child), or with a left pointing arrow. Backspace composition no longer works with typical modern digital displays or typesetting systems It has to some degree been replaced with the combining diacritical marks mechanism of Unicode, though such characters do not work well with many fonts, and precomposed characters continue to be used. This technique (also known as overstrike) is the basis for such spacing modifiers in computer character sets such as the ASCII caret (^, for the circumflex accent). In some typewriters, a typist would, for example, type a lowercase letter A with acute accent (á) by typing a lowercase letter A, backspace, and then the acute accent key.
