Denoting a standard layout of keys on a keyboard for typing, in which the leftmost keys of the top lettered row are Q-W-E-R-T-Y.
1978, Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, v 24 (Printers and Printing/Arabic Printing to Public Policy/Copyright, and Information Technology), p 109:
It was the Monotype model D keyboard introduced in 1907 which became the standard for printers, with a “qwerty” typewriter lay and removable keybars which made the keyboard independent of the matrix case arrangement.