Fact · Typing and writing speed
15errors per minute
In the 1999 CHI study, fast non-secretarial typists could correct up to 15 errors per minute by keyboard, choosing from an N-best list of recognizer alternatives.
Checked against its source on October 16, 2026
In the source's own words
“fast non-secretarial typists can correct up to 15 errors per minute using keyboard and choice from the N-best list”
Model-based and Empirical Evaluation of Multimodal Interactive Error Correction, Bernhard Suhm et al., Proceedings of CHI 99, ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1999, Discussion of correction speed, Figure 4.
Open the original- What it measures
- The authors use this as a benchmark for how fast typing can repair recognition errors. Their model predicts how fast speech correction must be to match it.
- What it does not show
- A correction benchmark for the study's participants in 1999, not a general typing speed. Recognition in 1999 made far more errors than current engines do.