Choose how typing accuracy is measured

Choose how typing accuracy is measured

Selecting the Accuracy Algorithm

The Accuracy Algorithm setting in the typing question editor determines the method used to calculate how accurately a candidate has typed the reference text. Two options are available:
  1. Word Match Accuracy — based on Cosine Similarity
  2. Character Accuracy — based on Damerau–Levenshtein Distance
This setting is available in the Accuracy Logic Configuration section of the question editor.

Info
This setting is available for Typing Test questions only. Once a question has been used in a live test, the algorithm cannot be changed. Create a new version of the question to update this setting.

Word Match Accuracy

Word Match Accuracy uses Cosine Similarity to calculate the accuracy score. It measures the similarity between the words used in the candidate's response and the words in the reference text, regardless of the order in which they appear.

How It Works
  1. Both the candidate's response and the reference text are lowercased.
  2. Each text is split into individual words.
  3. A word frequency count is created for each unique word in both texts.
  4. Cosine Similarity is calculated between the two frequency profiles to produce a score between 0% and 100%.
  5. A score of 100% means the candidate used exactly the same words in exactly the same proportions as the reference text.
Best For

IdeaRecommended when
  1. The test involves general passage typing or business writing
  2. Minor spelling variations or word order differences should not heavily penalize the candidate
  3. You want to reward vocabulary coverage over character-level precision
  4. The reference text is long (>50 words) and a few natural slips are acceptable

Alert
Limitation
Word Match Accuracy does not detect word order changes or character-level errors. Two responses with the same vocabulary but different structure or minor typos may still score very similarly. If exact character precision is required, use Character Accuracy instead.

Character Accuracy

Character Accuracy uses the Damerau–Levenshtein Distance algorithm to calculate the accuracy score. It counts the minimum number of single-character edits — insertions, deletions, substitutions, and transpositions — required to transform the candidate's response into the reference text. Every character, space, and punctuation mark is taken into account.

How It Works
  1. Both the candidate's response and the reference text are lowercased and whitespace-normalized.
  2. The Damerau–Levenshtein distance is calculated between the two strings.
  3. The raw distance is normalised using the following formula to produce a score between 0% and 100%:
  4. A score of 100% means the candidate's response is character-for-character identical to the reference text.
  5. A score of 0% means the two texts share no common characters in sequence.
Best For
Idea
Recommended when
  • The role requires exact character-level precision — data entry, transcription, legal or medical typing
  • A single wrong character, space, or punctuation mark is a real error
  • The reference text contains codes, numbers, technical terminology, or compliance-sensitive language
  • You need to detect and penalise transpositions (e.g. "teh" instead of "the")

How to Configure

  1. Open the Question Editor for a typing test question.
  2. Scroll down to the Accuracy Logic Configuration section.
  3. Click the Accuracy Algorithm dropdown.
  4. Select Word Match Accuracy or Character Accuracy as required.
  5. The hint text below the dropdown will update to confirm your selection.
  6. Click Save to apply.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which algorithm is selected by default?
Word Match Accuracy is selected by default. This preserves backwards-compatible behaviour for questions created before this setting was introduced.

Can I change the algorithm after the question has been used in a live test?
No. Once a question has been used in a live test, the algorithm is locked. To change the algorithm, create a new version of the question from the question editor.

Does the Accuracy Algorithm affect the Typing Speed or Completion Ratio scores?
No. The Accuracy Algorithm only affects how the accuracy score is calculated. Typing Speed and Completion Ratio are calculated independently and are not affected by this setting.

Does the algorithm affect how the Evaluate Accuracy Against setting works?
No. The two settings are independent. Any combination of Accuracy Algorithm and Evaluate Accuracy Against is valid. 

Is punctuation included in the Character Accuracy calculation?
Yes. By default, all characters including spaces and punctuation are included in the Damerau–Levenshtein distance calculation. This ensures that character-level precision is fully enforced.