A hand held mobile telephone (1) is disclosed comprising a front face (3) having a plurality of openings therein, and a plurality of keys (7 13) each having an upper surface bounded by side walls. Each key (7 13) protrudes from one of the plurality of openings to provide its upper surface for tactile actuation by a user. The telephone further comprises an underlying switching element and means for coupling the tactile actuation of the upper surface by a user to the switching element. One of said plurality of keys has a vertex, in the boundary of its upper surface, indicative of the location for tactile actuation.

A casing for a portable communication device having an operating face comprising a fragile input region providing recesses for operation of respective user input elements and a protection arrangement protruding beyond the fragile input region having an external profile that provides a plurality of contact points defining a contact plane such that when placed face downwards on a generally planar surface, the fragile region is spaced therefrom and impulses received on contact between the generally planar surface and the operating face are substantially dissipated away from the fragile region.