The use of backticks in reStructuredText is a bit awkward with Scandinavian keyboards, where the backtick is a "dead" key. To get one ` character one must press SHIFT-` + SPACE.
Unfortunately, with all the variations out there, there's no way to please everyone. For Scandinavian programmers and technical writers, this is not limited to reStructuredText but affects many languages and environments.
Possible solutions include
If you have to input a lot of backticks, simply type one in the normal/awkward way, select it, copy and then paste the rest (CTRL-V is a lot faster than SHIFT-` + SPACE).
Use keyboard macros.
Remap the keyboard. The Scandinavian keyboard layout is awkward for other programming/technical characters too; for example, []{} etc. are a bit awkward compared to US keyboards.
According to Axel Kollmorgen,
Under Windows, you can use the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator to easily map the backtick key to a real backtick (no dead key). took me five minutes to load my default (german) keyboard layout, untick "Dead Key?" from the backtick key properties ("in all shift states"), "build dll and setup package", install the generated .msi, and add my custom keyboard layout via Control Panel > Regional and Language Options > Languages > Details > Add Keyboard layout (and setting it as default "when you start your computer").
If anyone knows of other/better solutions, please let us know.