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A Note on Calculating Text Entry Speed
I. Scott MacKenzie, York University, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (author's research note), 2002
Read the originalRead on October 16, 2026
- What it is
- A short methods note by a leading text entry researcher explaining how to compute entry speed in characters per second and words per minute, including the convention that a word is five characters.
- How much weight it carries
- Written by I. Scott MacKenzie, whose text entry metrics are standard in human-computer interaction research. It is a research note on his university site rather than a peer-reviewed paper, but it documents the field's long-standing convention.
Facts taken from this source
- Entry speed in text entry research is the total number of characters entered divided by the time taken to enter them, in characters per second.
“Entry speed is simply the total number of characters entered divided by the time to enter them.” (Characters Per Second)
- For words per minute, a word is defined as five characters, including spaces and punctuation.
“includes spaces, punctuation, or other characters in the inputted text” (Words Per Minute)
- In MacKenzie's worked example, a 43-character phrase entered in 20 seconds scores 25.2 words per minute once the timing adjustment is applied.
“So, for the above example, text entry speed is 2.10 × (60 / 5) = 25.2 wpm.” (Words Per Minute)
- To convert characters per second into words per minute, multiply by 60 seconds per minute and divide by 5 characters per word, which is the same as multiplying by 12.
“The transformation requires multiplying the entry speed in cps by 60 seconds/minute and dividing by 5 characters/word.” (Words Per Minute)
Pages that rest on this source
- Characters per minute (CPM)Glossary
- Average Typing Speed: WPM by Age, Gender and DeviceGuide
- How Typing Speed Is Measured: WPM, Accuracy and TestsGuide
- Does punctuation change your typing test score?Question
- How do you calculate your speaking speed in words per minute?Question
- How do you convert WPM to keystrokes per hour?Question
- How is words per minute calculated?Question