Steady Keys

Welcome

Build speed without losing accuracy

Work through guided lessons or take a typing test. Your results stay in this browser and are never uploaded.

Your progress

Tests completed: 0
Best net speed: 0 WPM
Average accuracy: 0%

A comfortable starting point

Accuracy comes first. Begin slowly, keep your hands relaxed, and let speed develop through repetition.

Guided course

Learn touch typing

Choose a lesson. Each one introduces a small group of keys before asking you to type a short exercise.

Before you begin

Keys in this lesson:

What this lesson teaches

Technique

Practice and test

Typing test

Typing session

Type the passage

Read the passage, then type it in the field below. The timer begins with your first character. Press Tab to move to the Finish button at any time.

Time: Not started

Progress: 0 of 0 characters

0%

Passage to type

Current words

Your typing

Typing feedback follows your choice in Settings. Your screen reader's own typing echo remains under your control.

Session complete

Your results

Net speed: 0 WPM
Gross speed: 0 WPM
Accuracy: 0%
Uncorrected errors: 0
Time: 0 seconds
Characters typed: 0
Test ID: Not assigned

Download this assessment record

The record identifies this as a self-administered Steady Keys assessment rather than an independently proctored certification.

Name shown on the downloaded record

Stored on this device

Test history

Only completed tests are shown here. Lessons are not added to your test history.

Name for downloaded result records

Personalise the experience

Settings

Typing error feedback

This controls app announcements. It does not change your screen reader's keyboard echo.

Results at the end only Announce whether each completed word was correct Announce an error immediately after an incorrect character

Words announced while typing

When the typing field receives focus, the app announces the current group. It announces the next group when you reach it.

3 words at a time 4 words at a time 5 words at a time

Passage voice

The synthesized passage voice uses Australian English when an Australian voice is installed in Windows.

Use a separate synthesized voice Use screen-reader announcements

Windows voice

The list contains the voices this browser can access. Restart the browser after installing additional voices.

Synthesized voice speed

Microsoft instructions for downloading more Windows voices

Appearance

Use larger text Use the app's high-contrast theme

Music and sound effects

All sounds are original and stored inside the app. Keep volumes low enough that your screen reader and passage voice remain clear.

Speak a three, two, one countdown with impacts and a go horn Play upbeat quiz music during typing sessions Play a mechanical click for typing keys Play three bell strikes when a lesson or test finishes

Music volume: 25%

Keyboard click and countdown volume: 60%

Instructions and privacy

Help

Using a typing session with a screen reader

Choose a lesson or test and activate Start.
Read the passage in the Passage to type region.
Move to the Your typing edit field. Forms or focus mode may activate automatically, depending on your screen reader.
Type the passage. The timer starts with the first character.
Press Tab to reach Finish and show results, or continue until the passage or timer is complete.

Steady Keys does not assign special commands to ordinary letters, arrows, Tab, Escape or function keys. Your screen reader commands therefore remain available.

Feedback choices

Results-at-end mode is the quietest. Word feedback announces correct or error after you type a space. Character feedback announces “error” immediately, which can be useful while learning but may interrupt speech. Change this in Settings.

Hearing the passage while you type

Steady Keys announces the passage in groups of 3, 4 or 5 words. The current group is spoken when you enter the typing field. When you reach the next group, it is spoken automatically. Use the Speak current words button above the typing field to hear the active group again. Choose the group size and voice in Settings.

In letter drills, every character is spoken separately and spaces and punctuation are named. For example, “asdf jkl;” is spoken as “A, ess, dee, eff, space, jay, kay, ell, semicolon.” In normal prose, words are spoken normally while punctuation is named explicitly. Choose any voice exposed by your browser in Settings, or leave the selection on Automatic to prefer Australian English.

How scores are calculated

Gross words per minute divides typed characters by five and then by elapsed minutes. Net speed subtracts uncorrected errors. Accuracy is the percentage of typed characters that match the passage.

Timed tests finish only when their selected clock expires. The text is assembled from a shuffled bank of passages and is deliberately longer than most people can type within the selected time.

Downloading an assessment record

After a lesson or test, enter the name you want shown and choose Download named result record. The accessible HTML record includes the date, scores, duration, unique test ID, and a clear statement that the assessment was self-administered. Previous test records can also be downloaded from History.

Privacy

Your settings and completed-test results are stored only in this browser. Steady Keys has no account, analytics or server database. Clearing browser data may erase your history, so use Export history if you want a backup.

Music and sound

Settings contains separate controls for the countdown, upbeat session music, and mechanical keyboard clicks. Music is automatically lowered while the passage voice is speaking. Every sound can be disabled, and music and effects have separate volume controls.