One-Handed Touch Typing on a QWERTY keyboard

"Half-QWERTY" is a new, one-handed typing technique designed to facilitate the transfer of two-handed touch-typing skill to the one-handed condition. It is performed on a standard keyboard with modified software or on a special half-keyboard with full-size keys. In an experiment using touch typists, hunt-and-peck typing speeds were surpassed after 3 to 4 hr of practice. Subjects reached 50% of their two-handed typing speed after about 8 hr. After 10 hr, all subjects typed between 41% and 73% of their two-handed speed, ranging from 23.8 to 42.8 words per minute (wpm). In extended testing, subjects achieved average one-handed speeds as high as 60 wpm and 83% of their two-handed rate. These results are important for providing access to disabled users and for designing compact computers.

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