Does the same with Belgian layout 🙂 (Win 8.1, MC1.8)
The "<" key is just next to my "Q" key which is the AZERTY equivalent of the "A" key on QWERTY, I'm taking 20 screenshot per day xD
If someone want a tip: try to look away quickly of the item frames when loading world/loging in before they try to load and then remove them with a /setblock or /fill command.
I also got that when I tried to place one on my own server, can't join again 😞
It didn't crash as I said, it just doesn't let you join.