Fact · Typing and writing speed
The blind-user study defines words per minute by counting five characters as one word, which is the convention used for typing speeds in this guide.
Checked against its source on October 16, 2026
In the source's own words
“WPM represents the number of words typed per minute, with each word consisting of five characters”
Exploring the Impact of Word Prediction Assistive Features on Smartphone Keyboards for Blind Users, Mrim M. Alnfiai and Muhammad Ashad Kabir, arXiv preprint (later journal article), 2024, Section 3.6 (Typing speed).
Open the original- What it measures
- The convention counts spaces as characters, so a standard word and its following space count as six characters.
- What it does not show
- A convention, not a measurement. Other studies count words differently.
Source
Used to calculate
- At 51.56 words per minute, 60 characters (12 words of five characters) take about 14.0 seconds to type on a keyboard.
- At 36.2 words per minute, 60 characters (12 words of five characters) take about 19.9 seconds to type on a phone.
- At 153 words per minute, 60 characters (12 words of five characters) take about 4.7 seconds to speak on a phone.
- A four-character abbreviation such as sig and a space takes about 0.9 seconds at 51.56 words per minute.