That is the case out of the box, but both uae and amigaos allows them to be configured so they would be in the correct place for you.
Make an "idiot test", and take me as the idiot. This test works as follows: Take someone who is sufficiently experienced with AmigaOs, and sufficiently experienced with the host operating system, and expose him or her to the emulator in question. As him or her to perform task X, where X is defined by a use case. X can be "play a game", or "write a program", or "use a CAD program". Then watch what he or she does, and where problems appear.
I told you the output of my idiot test. "Didn't work". It does not matter whether the key is configurable if I don't know where to configure (bad documentation) or if I had to configure it in first place ("why isn't it in the right place to begin with").
You may question my choice of X ("write a program") instead of your X ("play a game"), but you cannot question my experience. My experience is what I described here: "It does not satisfy my needs". That's it.
Why did you request a specific solution to the problem then?
Once again. I DID NOT REQUEST A SOLUTION. I'm describing my experience. How often do I need to say?
What you suggested is over-engineered and is likely to be more of a maintenance issue moving forward.
Look, this is a discussion about use cases, software usability, usability tests and maintenance. For your application and your use case, this might be overengineering indeed. I don't doubt it, and I said that I probably misunderstood what the emulators are designed to be good for. (Even though, it's really not *that* complicated, as I did it, but whatever, what might be simple for one might be complicated for another).
For my use case, it seemed self evident that the default configuration is or should be a useful (as in "useful for me") configuration. It isn't. That's my experience. In my simple minded idiot approach, I simply took it for granted that if I press key "X" on the keyboard, the computer reads input "X", with X=\ or @. This expectation is apparently silly for what you had in mind, sorry for that. It seems for your application far more improtant that X matches the position on the original Amiga keyboard. This might be valid, I don't doubt your words, but it's wrong for me, and I can only ensure you that it really is. It is very confusing and stops me from typing efficiently.
The simple-minded expectation I have if I use a program for "X" (with X= "write a program") that the program reacts without further hassle for me in a natural case, for whatever "natural" means in this specific case. For me it means "Alt+ß" is backslash, because that's what's printed on my keyboard. I'm apparently expecting something wrong, and probably for the only reason that these emulators haven't been designed for my use. This is, as said, not a trategy, but simply a fact, and I'm stating this fact.
Configuration doesn't make this better - it is an additional barrier you create for first time users like me, even more so if the documentation is lacking. See the idiot test. I strongly believe that every other user with the same intended use ("write a program") would have stated as well "what the f?ck is this?" and would have put the program aside. Or maybe not, at least this is my believe.
"First time should get it right", quite simple. The problem is, and I'm saying this once again, that "right for you" and "right for me" are different things, as we found out. Now what? I don't want and can't complain - if it fits your needs, so may it be. It doesn't fit mine, it's not a tragedy, I have other ways I prefer to do my errants.
Someone probably should come up with a pre-packaged set of files for each country for working in UAE this way, it would appear that nobody is that bothered or it would have been done already.
Better installation procedure, or selection of a choice during installation ("match by position" vs. "match by key label") might be a possible solution for this problem, yes. If you believe it is worth a thought. I, as said, do not mind if people tell me that my expectations are probably overly ambitious or do not meet the expected requirements of the software.
