What is "touch typing"

n. typing without the use of sight to identify the keyboard keys.

n. typewriting in which the fingers are trained to hit particular keys; typist can read and type at the same time [syn: touch system]

Touch typing (also called touch type or touch keyboarding) is typing without using the sense of sight to find the keys. Specifically, a touch typist will know their location on the keyboard through muscle memory. Touch typing typically involves placing the eight fingers in a horizontal row along the middle of the keyboard (the home row) and having them reach for other keys. Both two-handed touch typing and one-handed touch typing are possible.

Frank Edward McGurrin, a court stenographer from Salt Lake City, Utah who taught typing classes, reportedly invented touch typing in 1888. On a standard keyboard for English speakers the home row keys are: "ASDF" for the left hand and "JKL;" for the right hand. The keyboard is called a QWERTY keyboard because these are the first six letters on the keyboard. Most modern computer keyboards have a raised dot or bar on the home keys for the index fingers to help touch typists maintain and rediscover the correct position on the keyboard quickly with no need to look at the keys. More recently, the ability to touch type on touchscreen phones has been made possible with the use of specialized virtual keyboard software for touch typing.