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Typing is the process of writing or inputting text by pressing keys on a
typewriter A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an inked ribbon selectivel ...
,
computer keyboard A computer keyboard is a peripheral input device modeled after the typewriter keyboard which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches. Replacing early punched cards and paper tape technology ...
,
mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...
or
calculator An electronic calculator is typically a portable electronic device used to perform calculations, ranging from basic arithmetic to complex mathematics. The first solid-state electronic calculator was created in the early 1960s. Pocket-sized ...
. It can be distinguished from other means of text input, such as
handwriting Handwriting is the writing done with a writing instrument, such as a pen or pencil, in the hand. Handwriting includes both printing and cursive styles and is separate from formal calligraphy or typeface A typeface (or font family) is ...
and
speech recognition Speech recognition is an interdisciplinary subfield of computer science and computational linguistics that develops methodologies and technologies that enable the recognition and translation of spoken language into text by computers with the m ...
. Text can be in the form of letters, numbers and other symbols. The world's first typist was Lillian Sholes from
Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
in the US, the daughter of
Christopher Sholes Christopher Latham Sholes (February 14, 1819February 17, 1890) was an American inventor who invented the QWERTY keyboard, and, along with Samuel W. Soule, Carlos Glidden and John Pratt, has been contended to be one of the inventors of the first ...
, who invented the first practical typewriter.
User interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine f ...
features such as
spell checker In software, a spell checker (or spelling checker or spell check) is a software feature that checks for misspellings in a text. Spell-checking features are often embedded in software or services, such as a word processor, email client, electronic di ...
and
autocomplete Autocomplete, or word completion, is a feature in which an application predicts the rest of a word a user is typing. In Android and iOS smartphones, this is called predictive text. In graphical user interfaces, users can typically press the tab ...
serve to facilitate and speed up typing and to prevent or correct errors the typist may make.


Techniques


Hunt and peck

Hunt and peck (''two-fingered typing'') is a common form of typing in which the typist presses each key individually. Instead of relying on the memorized position of keys, the typist must find each key by sight. Although good accuracy may be achieved, the use of this method may also prevent the typist from being able to see what has been typed without glancing away from the keys, and any typing errors that are made may not be noticed immediately. Because only a few fingers are used in this technique, this also means that the fingers are forced to move a much greater distance.


Touch typing

In this technique, the typist keeps their eyes on the source copy at all times. Touch typing also involves the use of the
home row Touch typing (also called blind typing, or touch keyboarding) is a style of typing. Although the phrase refers to typing without using the sense of sight to find the keys—specifically, a touch typist will know their location on the keyboard thro ...
method, where typists rest their wrist down, rather than lifting up and typing (which can cause
carpal tunnel syndrome Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the collection of symptoms and signs associated with median neuropathy at the carpal tunnel. Most CTS is related to idiopathic compression of the median nerve as it travels through the wrist at the carpal tunn ...
). To avoid this, typists should sit up tall, leaning slightly forward from the waist, place their feet flat on the floor in front of them with one foot slightly in front of the other, and keep their elbows close to their sides with forearms slanted slightly upward to the keyboard; fingers should be curved slightly and rest on the home row. Many touch typists also use
keyboard shortcut computing, a keyboard shortcut also known as hotkey is a series of one or several keys to quickly invoke a software program or perform a preprogrammed action. This action may be part of the standard functionality of the operating system or ...
s when typing on a computer. This allows them to edit their document without having to take their hands off the keyboard to use a mouse. An example of a keyboard shortcut is pressing the key plus the key to save a document as they type, or the key plus the key to undo a mistake. Other shortcuts are the key plus the to copy and the key and the key to paste, and the key and the key to cut. Many experienced typists can feel or sense when they have made an error and can hit the key and make the correction with no increase in time between keystrokes.


Hybrid

There are many idiosyncratic typing styles in between novice-style "hunt and peck" and touch typing. For example, many "hunt and peck" typists have the
keyboard layout A keyboard layout is any specific physical, visual or functional arrangement of the keys, legends, or key-meaning associations (respectively) of a computer keyboard, mobile phone, or other computer-controlled typographic keyboard. is the actua ...
memorized and are able to type while focusing their gaze on the screen. Some use just two fingers, while others use 3–6 fingers. Some use their fingers very consistently, with the same finger being used to type the same character every time, while others vary the way they use their fingers. One study examining 30 subjects, of varying different styles and expertise, has found minimal difference in typing speed between touch typists and self-taught hybrid typists. According to the study, "The number of fingers does not determine typing speed... People using self-taught typing strategies were found to be as fast as trained typists... instead of the number of fingers, there are other factors that predict typing speed... fast typists... keep their hands fixed on one position, instead of moving them over the keyboard, and more consistently use the same finger to type a certain letter." To quote doctoral candidate Anna Feit: "We were surprised to observe that people who took a typing course, performed at similar average speed and accuracy, as those that taught typing to themselves and only used 6 fingers on average."


Thumbing

A late 20th century trend in typing, primarily used with devices with small keyboards (such as PDAs and Smartphones), is ''thumbing'' or thumb typing. This can be accomplished using either only one thumb or both the thumbs, with more proficient typists reaching speeds of 100 words per minute. Similar to desktop keyboards and input devices, if a user overuses keys which need hard presses and/or have small and unergonomic layouts, it could cause thumb tendonitis or other
repetitive strain injury A repetitive strain injury (RSI) is an injury to part of the musculoskeletal or nervous system caused by repetitive use, vibrations, compression or long periods in a fixed position. Other common names include repetitive stress disorders, cumula ...
.


Words per minute

Words per minute Words per minute, commonly abbreviated wpm (sometimes uppercased WPM), is a measure of words processed in a minute, often used as a measurement of the speed of typing, reading or Morse code sending and receiving. Alphanumeric entry Since words ...
(WPM) is a measure of typing speed, commonly used in
recruitment Recruitment is the overall process of identifying, sourcing, screening, shortlisting, and interviewing candidates for jobs (either permanent or temporary) within an organization. Recruitment also is the processes involved in choosing individual ...
. For the purposes of WPM measurement a word is standardized to five characters or keystrokes. Therefore, "brown" counts as one word, but "mozzarella" counts as two. The benefits of a standardized measurement of input speed are that it enables comparison across language and hardware boundaries. The speed of an
Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
-speaking operator in
Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
can be compared with a French-speaking operator in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. Today, even
Written Chinese Written Chinese () comprises Chinese characters used to represent the Chinese language. Chinese characters do not constitute an alphabet or a compact syllabary. Rather, the writing system is roughly Logogram, logosyllabic; that is, a character gen ...
can be typed very quickly using the combination of a software prediction system and by typing their sounds in
Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...
. Such prediction software even allows typing short-hand forms while producing complete characters. For example, the phrase "nǐ chī le ma" (你吃了吗) meaning "Have you eaten yet?" can be typed with just 4 strokes: "nclm".


Alphanumeric entry

In one study of average computer users, the average rate for transcription was 33 words per minute, and 19 words per minute for composition. In the same study, when the group was divided into "fast", "moderate" and "slow" groups, the average speeds were 40 wpm, 35 wpm, and 23 wpm respectively. An average professional
typist Typist is a person who types, a clerical worker who writes documents, using a typewriter. Skills and occupations Typist may also refer to: *Data entry clerk, someone who types data into a database via a computer or terminal. * Audio typist, someone ...
reaches 50 to 80 wpm, while some positions can require 80 to 95 wpm (usually the minimum required for dispatch positions and other typing jobs), and some advanced typists work at speeds above 120 wpm. Two-finger typists, sometimes also referred to as "hunt and peck" typists, commonly reach sustained speeds of about 37 wpm for memorized text and 27 wpm when copying text, but in bursts may be able to reach speeds of 60 to 70 wpm.Brown, C. M. (1988). Human-computer interface design guidelines. Norwood, NJ:
Ablex Publishing Ablex Publishing Corporation is a privately held publisher of books and academic journals in New York City, New York, USA. It was previously located in Norwood, New Jersey, and also at one time in Westport and Stamford, Connecticut. Ablex publis ...
.
From the 1920s through the 1970s, typing speed (along with shorthand speed) was an important secretarial qualification and typing contests were popular and often publicized by typewriter companies as promotional tools. A less common measure of the speed of a typist, CPM is used to identify the number of characters typed per minute. This is a common measurement for typing programs, or typing tutors, as it can give a more accurate measure of a person's typing speed without having to type for a prolonged period of time. The common conversion factor between WPM and CPM is 5. It is also used occasionally for associating the speed of a reader with the amount they have read. CPM has also been applied to 20th century printers, but modern faster printers more commonly use PPM (pages per minute). The fastest typing speed ever, 216 words per minute, was achieved by Stella Pajunas-Garnand from Chicago in 1946 in one minute on an IBM electric using the
QWERTY QWERTY () is a keyboard layout for Latin-script alphabets. The name comes from the order of the first six Computer keyboard keys#Types, keys on the top left letter row of the keyboard ( ). The QWERTY design is based on a layout created f ...
keyboard layout. , writer Barbara Blackburn was the fastest
English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...
typist in the world, according to ''
The Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
''. Using the
Dvorak keyboard layout Dvorak is a keyboard layout for English patented in 1936 by August Dvorak and his brother-in-law, William Dealey, as a faster and more ergonomic alternative to the QWERTY layout (the ''de facto'' standard keyboard layout). Dvorak proponents c ...
, she had maintained 150 wpm for 50 minutes, and 170 wpm for shorter periods, with a peak speed of 212 wpm. Blackburn, who failed her
QWERTY QWERTY () is a keyboard layout for Latin-script alphabets. The name comes from the order of the first six Computer keyboard keys#Types, keys on the top left letter row of the keyboard ( ). The QWERTY design is based on a layout created f ...
typing class in high school, first encountered the Dvorak layout in 1938, quickly learned to achieve very high speeds, and occasionally toured giving speed-typing demonstrations during her secretarial career. She appeared on ''
Late Night with David Letterman ''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on NBC, the first iteration of the ''Late Night'' franchise. It premiered on February 1, 1982, and was produced by Letterman's production company ...
'' on January 24, 1985, but felt that Letterman made a spectacle of her. The recent emergence of several competitive typing websites has allowed fast typists on computer keyboards to emerge along with new records, though many of these are unverifiable. Some notable, verified records include 255 wpm on a one-minute, random-word test by a user under the username slekap and occasionally bailey, 213 wpm on a 1-hour, random-word test by Joshua Hu, 221 wpm average on 10 random quotes by Joshua Hu, and first place in the 2020
Ultimate Typing Championship The Ultimate Typing Championship (UTC) is a typing competition designed to identify and award the fastest typists in the US. History The Ultimate Typing Championship was created in order to promote typing and find the fastest typists in the United ...
by Anthony Ermollin based on an average of 180.88 wpm on texts of various lengths. These three people are the most commonly cited fastest typists in online typing communities. All of their records were set on the
QWERTY QWERTY () is a keyboard layout for Latin-script alphabets. The name comes from the order of the first six Computer keyboard keys#Types, keys on the top left letter row of the keyboard ( ). The QWERTY design is based on a layout created f ...
keyboard layout. Using a personalized
interface Interface or interfacing may refer to: Academic journals * ''Interface'' (journal), by the Electrochemical Society * ''Interface, Journal of Applied Linguistics'', now merged with ''ITL International Journal of Applied Linguistics'' * '' Inte ...
,
physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...
Stephen Hawking, who suffered from
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...
, managed to type 15 wpm with a switch and adapted software created by Walt Woltosz. Due to a slowdown of his motor skills, his interface was upgraded with an
infrared camera Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...
that detected "twitches in the cheek muscle under the eye." His typing speed decreased to approximately one word per minute in the later part of his life.


Numeric entry

The numeric entry, or 10-key, speed is a measure of one's ability to manipulate a numeric keypad. Generally, it is measured in Keystrokes per Hour or KPH.


Text-entry research


Error analysis

With the introduction of computers and word-processors, there has been a change in how text-entry is performed. In the past, using a typewriter, speed was measured with a stopwatch and errors were tallied by hand. With the current technology, document preparation is more about using word-processors as a composition aid, changing the meaning of error rate and how it is measured. Research performed by R. William Soukoreff and I. Scott MacKenzie, has led to a discovery of the application of a well-known algorithm. Through the use of this algorithm and accompanying analysis technique, two statistics were used, ''minimum string distance error rate'' (MSD error rate) and ''keystrokes per character'' (KSPC). The two advantages of this technique include: * Participants are allowed to enter text naturally, since they may commit errors and correct them. * The identification of errors and generation of error rate statistics is easy to automate.


Deconstructing the text input process

Through analysis of keystrokes, the keystrokes of the input stream were divided into four classes: Correct (C), Incorrect Fixed (IF), Fixes (F), and Incorrect Not Fixed (INF). These key stroke classification are broken down into the following * The two classes Correct and Incorrect Not Fixed comprise all of the characters in transcribed text. * Fixes (F) keystrokes are easy to identify, and include keystrokes such as backspace, delete, cursor movements, and modifier keys. * Incorrect Fixed (IF) keystrokes are found in the input stream, but not the transcribed text, and are not editing keys. Using these classes, the Minimum String Distance Error Rate and the Key Strokes per Character statistics can both be calculated.


Minimum string distance error rate

The minimum string distance (MSD) is the number of "primitives" which is the number of insertions, deletions, or substitutions to transform one string into another. The following equation was found for the MSD Error Rate. ''MSD Error Rate'' = (INF/(C + INF)) * 100\%


Key strokes per character (KSPC)

With the minimum string distance error, errors that are corrected do not appear in the transcribed text. The following example will show you why this is an important class of errors to consider: ''Presented Text'': the quick brown
''Input Stream'': the quix<-ck brown
''Transcribed Text'': the quick brown in the above example, the incorrect character ('x') was deleted with a backspace ('<-'). Since these errors do not appear in the transcribed text, the MSD error rate is 0%. This is why there is the key strokes per character (KSPC) statistic. ''KSPC'' = (C+INF+IF+F)/(C+INF) The three shortcomings of the KSPC statistic are listed below: * High KSPC values can be related to either many errors which were corrected, or few errors which were not corrected; however, there is no way to distinguish the two. * KSPC depend on the text input method, and cannot be used to meaningfully compare two different input methods, such as Qwerty-keyboard and a multi-tap input. * There is no obvious way to combine KSPC and MSD into an overall error rate, even though they have an inverse relationship.


Further metrics

Using the classes described above, further metrics were defined by R. William Soukoreff and I.Scott MacKenzie: ''Error correction efficiency'' refers to the ease with which the participant performed error correction. * ''Correction Efficiency'' = IF/F ''Participant conscientiousness'' is the ratio of corrected errors to the total number of error, which helps distinguish perfectionists from apathetic participants. * ''Participant Conscientiousness'' = IF / (IF + INF) If C represents the amount of useful information transferred, INF, IF, and F represent the proportion of bandwidth wasted. * ''Utilized Bandwidth'' = C / (C + INF + IF + F) * ''Wasted Bandwidth'' = (INF + IF + F)/ (C + INF + IF + F)


Total error rate

The classes described also provide an intuitive definition of total
error An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...
rate: * ''Total Error Rate'' = ((INF + IF)/ (C + INF + IF)) * 100% * ''Not Corrected Error Rate'' = (INF/ (C + INF + IF)) * 100% * ''Corrected Error Rate'' = (IF/ (C + INF + IF)) * 100% Since these three error rates are ratios, they are comparable between different devices, something that cannot be done with the KSPC statistic, which is device dependent.


Tools for text entry research

Currently, two tools are publicly available for text entry researchers to record text entry performance metrics. The first is TEMA that runs only on the
Android (operating system) Android is a mobile operating system based on a modified version of the Linux kernel and other open-source software, designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Android is developed by a consortium of de ...
. The second i
WebTEM
that runs on any device with a modern Web browser, and works with almost all text entry technique.


Keystroke dynamics

Keystroke dynamics Keystroke dynamics, keystroke biometrics, typing dynamics and typing biometrics refer to the detailed timing information that describes when each key was pressed and released as a person is typing on a computer keyboard. Science The behavioura ...
, or ''typing dynamics'', is the obtaining of detailed timing information that describes exactly when each key was pressed and when it was released as a person is typing at a
computer keyboard A computer keyboard is a peripheral input device modeled after the typewriter keyboard which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches. Replacing early punched cards and paper tape technology ...
for
biometric Biometrics are body measurements and calculations related to human characteristics. Biometric authentication (or realistic authentication) is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. It is also used to identify in ...
identification, similar to
speaker recognition Speaker recognition is the identification of a person from characteristics of voices. It is used to answer the question "Who is speaking?" The term voice recognition can refer to ''speaker recognition'' or speech recognition. Speaker verification ...
. Data needed to analyze keystroke dynamics is obtained by
keystroke logging Keystroke logging, often referred to as keylogging or keyboard capturing, is the action of recording (logging) the keys struck on a keyboard, typically covertly, so that a person using the keyboard is unaware that their actions are being monitored ...
. The behavioral biometric of Keystroke Dynamics uses the manner and rhythm in which an individual types characters on a keyboard or keypad.


See also

*
Muscle memory Muscle memory is a form of procedural memory that involves consolidating a specific motor task into memory through repetition, which has been used synonymously with motor learning. When a movement is repeated over time, the brain creates a long-te ...
*
Stenotype A steno machine, stenotype machine, shorthand machine, stenograph or steno writer is a specialized chorded keyboard or typewriter used by stenographers for shorthand use. In order to pass the United States Registered Professional Reporter test, a ...
*
Copy typist A copy typist is someone who specializes in typing text from a source which they read. Originally appeared as a skill in handling of typewriter, later it transitioned to using computer keyboard with results tracking on computer display and obtainin ...
*
Audio typist An audio typist is someone who specialises in typing text from an audio source which they listen to. The source, or original document is usually recorded onto microcassettes created by someone dictating into a Dictaphone. The audio typist will ...
*
Data entry clerk A data entry clerk, also known as data preparation and control operator, data registration and control operator, and data preparation and registration operator, is a member of staff employed to enter or update data into a computer system. Data is o ...
*
Speed typing contest In a speed typing contest contestants compete to attain the highest accurate typing speeds. These contests have been common in North America since the 1930s and were used to test the relative efficiency of typing with the Dvorak and QWERTY keyboa ...
*
Typesetting Typesetting is the composition of text by means of arranging physical ''type'' (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or ''glyphs'' in digital systems representing ''characters'' (letters and other symbols).Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random Ho ...


References


External links

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