Fact · Typing and writing speed
KSPC is the number of keystrokes a text entry technique needs, on average, to generate one character of text in a given language.
Checked against its source on October 16, 2026
In the source's own words
“KSPC is the number of keystrokes, on average, to generate each character of text in a given language using a given text entry technique.”
KSPC (Keystrokes per Character) as a Characteristic of Text Entry Techniques, I. Scott MacKenzie, Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Human Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices (Mobile HCI 2002), LNCS 2411, Springer, 2002, Abstract.
Open the original (DOI 10.1007/3-540-45756-9_16)- What it measures
- MacKenzie introduced KSPC for mobile text entry, where one key press often produces more or less than one character. The measure is defined per technique and per language, so the same technique can have a different value in another language.
- What it does not show
- It is an average over the language model used, not a measurement of any one person. It counts keystrokes, so it says little about speed in words per minute or about the time a person spends thinking.