There are a few things to consider with regards to accuracy when you are typing. What’s more important, accuracy or speed? What is considered a good accuracy, and what should your goals be? No matter your preference, set some goals to achieve and go after them! While it is different depending on your age, your studies, or your profession, here are some general goals for you to consider:

Typing Goals

What is the best touch typing goal for yourself? If you are working in a corporate office setting you are going to want to strive for both as much speed and as much accuracy as possible. Some jobs require both to be as perfect as possible. If you are freelancing and working for yourself, as long as you can meet your deadlines, speed might not be as much of a factor, but and accuracy might not be very important either. Freelancers and writers can usually spend a lot of time editing their own work, so you will have time to review any mistakes you make. 

Speed versus Accuracy

When you are thinking of typing, this argument is as old as time itself, or at least as old as the first typewriter. What is the best way to know which is more important, speed or accuracy? You really need to decide what it is you are trying to accomplish with touch typing. Are you furiously racing to meet a deadline and need to type as fast as humanly possible? Or, would you prefer to have less editing to do later, and therefore you should focus on your accuracy? Once you decide upon your goal, you will be able to answer the question of speed versus accuracy.

Create some Touch Typing Goals

You will be most successful in life at almost all tasks, from touch typing to running a marathon, if you set goals for yourself along the way. How do you know if you are improving if you are not measuring? Whether it is speed or accuracy or both, you need to measure your success along the way. Know how many words per minute you were able to type last month, and then measure it again after a month of training. Did it go up? (We hope so). If it did not go up as much as you had hoped, why not? What can you do better this month to improve your measurements?

Can you Incentivize Goals?

Setting goals are one thing, but can you use that to your advantage? Especially if you are teaching young kids, find a way to incorporate the touch typing goals into games. People respond well to challenges, and games can serve as motivation to improve skills. They can also serve as another way to track progress and know what areas still need to be improved upon. Whether it’s online or in-person, find ways to create a friendly competition between your students or between you and some others learning how to touch type. It will make the learning experience easier, faster, and more fun! 

Summary

Both speed and accuracy are important for touch typing, it just depends on your needs. If you are trying to learn touch typing skills or teach young students touch typing skills, you will want to make sure you set some measurable goals. This way you can track your progress as you go, and keep tabs on how your speed or accuracy is improving. This is important both for your morale and motivation, but also so you know what is working and what still needs improvement.