Fact · Typing and writing speed
In touch typing, all fingers rest on their home positions in the middle row and move only up or down toward their keys, so the hands stay in one position.
Checked against its source on October 16, 2026
In the source's own words
“All fingers are placed on their home position in the middle row and only move up or down towards their respective keys.”
How We Type: Movement Strategies and Performance in Everyday Typing, Anna Maria Feit et al., Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2016, FAQ, 'What is the touch typing system?'.
Open the original (DOI 10.1145/2858036.2858233)- What it measures
- The authors of How We Type answer the question 'What is the touch typing system?' in the FAQ of their online study of everyday typing. The answer describes the system as the authors understand it, not a measured property.
- What it does not show
- The FAQ describes the touch typing system in general terms. The study's main finding concerns how skilled typists move their fingers, and it is not a test of whether the home row is the best possible layout.