langleybaston, a simpler way of using special characters is to find 'Character Map' on a (Windows) computer, then create a short cut or add it to the 'start' list. In Win7 it's in 'Accessories' > 'System Tools'...or just use 'Search programs and files' and type in 'Character Map'.
I often need to use German characters such as ß, ü, ö etc - and there are also useful mathematical items and fractions..... ¼ ± ½ etc. ô, ç, ñ, ø etc are also all there for other languages.