272:" and touch typing. For example, many hunt-and-peck typists have the keyboard layout memorized and are able to type while focusing their gaze on the screen. 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". However, the study has been criticised for only selecting subjects with average typing speeds up to 75 words per minute, thus lacking
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gradually mastering other rows. It is important to learn placing fingers into the start position blindly as the hands are frequently raised from the keyboard to operate the line feed lever (in the past) or (more recently) the computer mouse. The keys F and J frequently contain some surface features that allow the typist to recognize them by touch alone, thus removing the need to look down at the keys to reset the fingers at the home row.
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as well as the mind in the beginning, but once it is learned to a decent level, it exerts minimal stress on the fingers. For individuals with past typing experience, learning to touch type is particularly difficult due to motivational reasons: the initial performance level in touch typing is far lower than in visually guided typing; therefore it does not initially seem worthwhile to study touch typing.
243:), while a speed of 60–80 WPM is the approximate speed to keep up with one's thoughts. A Microsoft survey suggested that many managers expect employees to be able to type at a minimum of 50 WPM. Professional career typists can exceed 100 WPM repeatedly and continuously (secretarial, data entry, etc.). Routine practice is required to maintain a high typing speed and accuracy.
202:. Instead of relying on the memorized position of keys, the typist finds each key by sight and moves their finger over to press it, usually the index finger of their dominant hand. This method is considered inferior as not only is it slower than touch typing, the typist would have to have their fingers travel a greater distance.
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Typing speed generally improves with practice. While practicing, it is important to ensure that there are no weak keys. Typing speed is typically determined by how slow these weak keys are typed rather than how fast the remaining keys are typed. If a stage is reached where irrespective of the amount
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The typing speed can be increased gradually and speeds of 60 WPM or higher can be achieved. The increase in speed varies between individuals. Many websites and software products are available to learn touch typing and many of these are free. Learning touch typing can be stressful both to the fingers
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method, but with an increased number of fingers; typing without looking at the keyboard, but using fewer than the eight fingers that the home row method uses (commonly, the omission of the little finger as the weakest finger that many will find difficult to hit keys with due to either less strength,
163:
On July 25, 1888, an
American man, Frank Edward McGurrin, who was reportedly the only person using touch typing at the time, won a decisive victory over Louis Traub (operating Caligraph with eight-finger method) in a typing contest held in Cincinnati. The results were displayed on the front pages of
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A touch typist starts by placing their fingers on the "start position" in the middle row and knows which finger to move and how much to move it for reaching any required key. Learning typically includes first printing exercises containing only letters on or near the standard position and then
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The calculations for keyboard layout were based on the language being typed and this meant different keyboard layouts would be needed for each language. In
English-speaking countries, for example, the first row is QWERTY, but in French-speaking countries it is
152:) are near the same, so the telegraphist often needs to wait for more signals before understanding the content. The view that the layout was intentionally redesigned to slow down the operator, to prevent jamming the mechanism, is widespread but not correct.
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Whether McGurrin was actually the first person to touch type or simply the first to be popularly noticed, is disputed. Speeds attained by other typists in other typing competitions at the time suggest that they must have been using similar systems.
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order (ABCDE etc.) Changes were made, mostly responding to suggestions from telegraphists who were among the first users. Common letters were moved towards the center and into the upper row. Z and S are close to each other because the
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A touch typist does not need to move the sight between the keyboard (that is obscured with fingers and may be poorly lit) and other areas that require attention. This increases productivity and reduces the number of errors.
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of practice, typing speed is not increasing, it is advisable to let some time pass and continue serious practice thereafter as typing speeds typically tend to increase with time even when no serious practice is done.
67:) and having them reach for specific other keys. (Under this usage, typists who do not look at the keyboard but do not use home row either are referred to as hybrid typists.) Both two-handed touch typing and
160:. Though mechanical typewriters are now rarely used, moves to change the layout to increase speed have been largely ignored or resisted due to familiarity with the existing layout among touch typists.
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less dexterity, or both); moving their entire hand to reach for the desired key; or only moving when a key needs to be pressed instead of always returning to home row after every keystroke.
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A third method is a mix of both methods: The left hand works exactly the same as above, and the right hand as in the base method (the right index finger is used for digit
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have a raised dot or bar on the home keys for the index fingers to help touch typists maintain and rediscover the correct positioning of the fingers on the keyboard keys.
179:, that is, with only an occasional glance at the key-board, sit directly in front of the machine. Keep the hands as nearly as possible in one position over the key-board.
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In 1889, Bates Torrey coined the words "writing by touch" in his article. In 1890, Lovisa Ellen
Bullard Barnes defined the words "write by touch" in her book as follows:
61:—the term is often used to refer to a specific form of touch typing that involves placing the eight fingers in a horizontal row along the middle of the keyboard (the
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Touch typing helps improve posture and reduce neck pain by keeping one's eyes focused on the display and avoiding a constant need to glance at the keyboard.
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Mrs. Arthur J. Barnes: How to Become Expert in
Typewriting: A Complete Instructor Designed Especially for the Remington, Rather J. Barnes, St. Louis, 1890.
769:"Why your typing means you're probably not up to the job - Less than half of Britons hit the 50 words per minute typing speed seen as 'minimum' for work"
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Some keyboards have a small bump on certain keys of the home row. This helps returning the fingers to the home row for touch typing.
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Mrs. Arthur J. Barnes: Complete
Caligraph instructor or How to Become Expert in Typewriting, Rather J. Barnes, St. Louis, 1890.
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Yechiam, E; Erev I; Yehene, V; Gopher, D (2003). "Melioration and the transition from touch-typing training to everyday use".
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are trained to keep their fingers on these keys and return to them after pressing any other key that is not on the home row.
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Some specialized high-end computer keyboards are designed for touch typists. For example, many manufacturers provide blank
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Touch type training can improve an individual's typing speed and accuracy dramatically. Speeds average around 30–40 WPM (
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keyboard for
English speakers the home row keys are: "ASDF" for the left hand and "JKL;" for the right hand. Most modern
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many newspapers. McGurrin won US$ 500 (equivalent to $ 13,304 in 2019 USD) and popularized the new typing method.
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There exist special ergonomic keyboards designed for each typing method. The keyboard is split between the keys
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only). Some people consider this more ergonomic since the fingers of both hands generally move to the inside.
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and the little — all other keys on the right side of the upper row. These two methods likely reflect the
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A method taught since the 1960s (and perhaps earlier): The left little finger is used for the keys
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Koichi
Yasuoka∗ and Motoko Yasuoka (2011) On the Prehistory of QWERTY. ZINBUN (2011), 42: 161-174
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627:. A trained touch typist should not mind using a blank keyboard. This kind of keyboard may force
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to find the keys—specifically, a touch typist will know their location on the keyboard through
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who taught typing classes, reportedly invented home row touch typing in 1888. On a standard
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users to type without looking, similar to
Braille keyboards used by the visually impaired.
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187:, developed and released by Sector Software is an early example of typing tutor software.
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120:"I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters are without looking."
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Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human
Factors in Computing Systems - CHI '16
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818:"Sore back? 7 tips to stop your hours of computer use becoming a pain in the neck"
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Bates Torrey: Scientific
Typewriting, The Writer, Vol. 3, No. 7, pp.152-154, 1889.
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Feit, Anna Maria; Weir, Daryl; Oulasvirta, Antti (2016). "How We Type".
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Various other styles in between those two exist—for example, using a
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Original layouts for the first few mechanical typewriters were in
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of the typewriters from early days when some of them had no
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There are many other typing styles in between novice-style "
683:(Very big text, search for "Contest for a Prize of $ 500")
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19:"Dactylographer" redirects here. For the racehorse, see
851:"Ten fingers not needed for fast typing, study shows"
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can do this at speeds of over 100 words per minute.
504:" key will be moved directly upwards to press the "
402:on a QWERTY keyboard, one would place all of one's
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694:Liebowitzs, Stn; Margolis, Stephen E. (Jun 1996),
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16:Typing without the use of sight to find the keys
225:Standard finger placement on a QWERTY keyboard
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917:"Learn to Type Without Looking at the Screen"
566:. On the right side of the keyboard: index —
101:A touch typing class in a commercial school,
1429:The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
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794:"One skill to make you type a lot faster"
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987:, Official portal for Intersteno people
510:" key and then back. Finally, the same
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520:" key and press it twice. Experienced
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148:of Z and a common diagram SE (both
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494:key from which it originated. The
472:.) The typist will then use their
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985:Competition Classifications Lists
919:. Data Entry Test. Archived from
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305:Microsoft Natural Keyboard Pro,
34:demonstrating his typing in 1938
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915:Zoras, Vince (November 2013).
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247:Reduced switching of attention
190:Touch typing is contrasted to
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1158:Sholes and Glidden typewriter
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482:" key located just above the
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327:. On the most common type of
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1112:Underwood Typewriter Company
441:while the left hand covers "
77:, a court stenographer from
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1408:Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing
1397:Boston Typewriter Orchestra
1077:Imperial Typewriter Company
956:10.1518/hfes.45.4.671.27085
748:"History | Sector Software"
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185:Touch Typist Typing Tutor
1414:Repetitive strain injury
1092:Royal Typewriter Company
647:Category:Typing software
264:Disputes over advantages
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1369:Speech-to-text reporter
1184:Lucien Stephen Crandall
1062:Commodore International
884:10.1145/2858036.2858233
69:one-handed touch typing
878:. pp. 4262–4273.
641:Dvorak keyboard layout
550:, the ring finger for
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406:on the home row. (The
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21:Dactylographer (horse)
1234:Lyman Cornelius Smith
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1067:E. Remington and Sons
680:Frank Edward McGurrin
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75:Frank Edward McGurrin
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1424:Speed typing contest
1008:at Wikimedia Commons
625:mechanical keyboards
514:will remain on the "
486:and then return the
410:should be covering "
276:for faster typists.
146:American Morse codes
79:Salt Lake City, Utah
1214:John Jonathon Pratt
1148:Hansen Writing Ball
1138:Data Recall Diamond
750:. 23 September 2010
256:Reduced neck strain
200:two-fingered typing
30:Competitive typist
1465:Computer keyboards
1224:Christopher Sholes
1163:Olivetti Valentine
1143:Hammond Typewriter
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498:, located on the "
476:to reach for the "
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131:A Case of Identity
126:Arthur Conan Doyle
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87:computer keyboards
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1177:Prominent figures
1004:Media related to
431:" with the right
381:on the home row.
325:computer keyboard
47:touch keyboarding
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923:on 27 April 2015
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49:) is a style of
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1354:Audio typist
1308:Carbon paper
1107:Smith Corona
1102:Silver Seiko
1006:Touch typing
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927:27 September
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1379:Typesetting
1349:Copy typist
1342:Occupations
1301:Accessories
1168:Hermes 3000
1043:Typewriters
574:, middle —
512:ring finger
496:ring finger
310: 1999
110: 1910
1449:Categories
1323:Ink ribbon
1258:Components
1209:Henry Mill
860:2021-04-10
832:2020-04-24
803:2019-11-22
779:2019-11-22
754:2021-06-06
707:2007-02-14
654:References
408:right hand
377:" are the
321:typewriter
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1364:Secretary
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492:semicolon
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469:space bar
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183:In 1985,
1419:Samizdat
1087:Olivetti
964:15055463
855:phys.org
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297:Home row
280:Training
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1057:Brother
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590:and/or
522:typists
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390:typists
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103:Mülheim
93:History
1455:Typing
1292:Platen
1285:QWERTZ
1280:QWERTY
1275:Dvorak
1270:AZERTY
1126:Models
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594:keys.
584:layout
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1117:Xerox
1097:Sharp
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898:S2CID
464:thumb
433:thumb
315:The "
235:Speed
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960:PMID
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888:ISBN
616:and
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