words per minute
2
BrandonCarnahan
00:00
Speed
Touch typing refers to typing without using the sense of sight to find the keys—specifically, a touch typist will know their location on the keyboard through muscle memory. 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 home row) and having them reach for specific other keys.
When touch typing, the typist keeps their eyes on the source copy at all times. Touch typing also involves the use of the home row method, where typists rest their wrist down, rather than lifting up and typing (which can cause carpal tunnel syndrome). 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.
Most modern computer keyboards have a raised dot or bar on the home keys for the index fingers to help touch typists maintain the correct positioning of the fingers on the keyboard keys.
Many touch typists also use keyboard shortcuts 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 Ctrl key plus the S key to save a document as they type, or the Ctrl key plus the Z key to undo a mistake. Many experienced typists can feel or sense when they have made an error and can hit the Backspace key and make the correction with no increase in time between keystrokes.