Introduction
Typing is a valuable skill in the modern society. We use some specialized tools to evaluate the competency level of a person in a particular talent. Typing tests are tools used to evaluate the typing ability of a person.
There are several types of tests available to evaluate and improve typing - it may be an online typing test, an offline typing test, or an in-person typing test. All the mentioned tests are used for checking the typing capabilities of a professional.
For online tests, there are several websites which are providing platforms to perform online typing tests. Some of the many are Typing Master, Monkey type/ MonkeyType, Nitro Type, Typing practice, Typeracer/Type racer. I tried out all of those websites and I had a lot of fun. Strongly recommended!
For offline and in-person tests, there are some paid pieces of software or programs available in the market as well, for example TypingMaster, RapidTyping ,and Keyblaze. The tests provide insight into the level of expertise of a particular person. I haven't tried the offline testing options so I cannot say much about them.
Brief History Overview
The history of typing spanned over centuries. If one would say typing is the base of today's computer and all the internet and the IT sector, then he's right to some extent. It is the analogy of a wheel. As all engineering innovation is based on the centuries-old invention of the wheel, the same is true for typing and typewriter.
The story of the typing and typewriter started in the 18th century, but the first basic typing device was manufactured in mid of the 19th century. The initial typewriters did not allow the typist to see what the operator was writing in real time, and it was considered as the blind writing.
The legendary development of the QWERTY keyboard in 1868 made the typing and typewriter a fascinating and handy device alleviated the life of typists. Before the invention of the QWERTY keyboard, typing was very difficult and challenging. The letter placement on the typing devices was not standardized and optimized and it was hard to type fast. This led the typing to become a separate field. It started gaining public interest and became a valuable skill at the end of the 19th century.
This resulted in typing training institutes and schools to be established to meet the high demand for expert typists. Those institutes and schools offered specialized typing trainings and courses to train many people.
At that time, tests to evaluate typing came into effect. As there were “pretended to be” trained candidates on the market for the position of a typist. For this reason, it became necessary, to evaluate the candidates to get the best out of the available talent. However, nowadays typing skill is not tested for most of jobs. It just assumed that the candidate has a computer at home and knows how to type.
Metrics Used in Typing Tests
The typing itself is the combination of two things - speed of typing and accuracy in typing. The speed means “how many words are written in a minute” and the accuracy means “how error-free typing is carried out.” The speed is measured in words per minute (WPM) and the precision/accuracy is evaluated by examining the typing through spelling mistakes, mistyped characters, punctuation, and grammatical mistakes.
Although the speed and accuracy/precision are inverse to each other. High speed gives low accuracy and vice versa. But with the typing test, the most suitable candidate among the many can be picked.
Along with these primary assessment metrics, there are some secondary metrics may also be used in some cases to get more specific results. Those are the analysis of error types and typing patterns, and I will not go into details about them in this article.
How to Improve the Skill of Typing
The typing skill, like any other talent, can only be improved with a lot of practice. A typist may require hours and hours of practice to increase typing speed (WPM) along with accuracy.
It is advised to understand the matter before typing it. A typist must have an adequate knowledge of the subject to type it accurately. Without understanding the meaning of the text either speed or accuracy must be affected. Hence, a person must get insights into the matter before starts typing it. With this trick and a lot of keyboard practice, anyone will become a pro in the skill and field of typing.
What is The Future of Typing Tests
The skill of typing will never be out of market although the input methods may be reshaped due to emerging techniques. These days a voice typing is trending. A technology that allows to input text using spoken words instead of the keyboard. But it is very clear like a bright sun that the significance of this talent can never be underestimated.
I think, the future of manual typing and the related evaluation tests will certainly be affected by the latest innovations and the recent development of AI. The artificial intelligence already helps typist by predicting what word to auto-fill next. However, the integration of AI & emerging technologies into the tests and evaluation process is in the very early stage and we don’t know how it will evolve in future.
Conclusion
Although typing has transformed from typing on a typewriter to supercomputer and voice typing but still the significance of this skill is in high demand. How can you survive in today’s world without knowing how to type with all 10 fingers? Thus, the typing test providers, whether online or offline, are also most valued.
These tests could provide insights into the capability of a person under consideration. In other words, a typing test is a valuable tool to access the expertise of a person before hiring either in the freelancing field or in in-person in any digital industry. These tests help in selecting a capable person for a particular job that requires a lot of typing.
Enough reading, now it’s time to scroll up and practice typing on my funny quotes typing simulator! Go-go-go!