Sinhala Typing Test

This typing test supports two keyboard layouts:

1. Sinhala Wijesekara: The traditional Sri Lankan keyboard standard (SLS 1134) designed originally for typewriters and later adapted for Unicode input. This is the most widely used Sinhala keyboard layout in Sri Lanka. If you are practising Sinhala typing, this is the primary layout to learn.

2. English (QWERTY): The standard QWERTY layout for English typing practice.

You can switch between layouts from the settings panel before starting your test.

The Wijesekara keyboard layout is the traditional standard for typing Sinhala script, originally designed by M. D. Wijesekara for Sri Lankan typewriters. It was later adapted for computer use and standardised as SLS 1134 (Sri Lanka Standard 1134).

Key characteristics of the Wijesekara layout:

• Vowel signs (matras) are on the left side of each row
• Consonants are on the right side
• The virama / hal kirima (්) is on the backtick key
• ZWJ (Zero Width Joiner) is used to form yansaya, rakaraanshaya, and al-lakuna conjuncts

Despite newer phonetic layouts being available, the Wijesekara layout remains the most commonly used in Sri Lanka, particularly in government and professional settings.

In the Sinhala Wijesekara keyboard layout, ZWJ (Zero Width Joiner, U+200D) is used to form Sinhala conjunct characters:

• Yansaya (subscript ya ්‍ය): consonant + ් (backtick) + ZWJ (x) + ZWJ (x) + ය (y)
• Rakaraanshaya (subscript ra ්‍ර): consonant + ් (backtick) + ZWJ (x) + ར (r)
• Al-lakuna (virama join): ් + ZWJ

The primary ZWJ position is the x key (unshifted). ZWJ also appears on the Shift positions of W, Y, F, H, Z, V, and M keys.

ZWNJ (Zero Width Non-Joiner, U+200C) is on the unshifted w key and prevents ligature formation.

Typing speed is calculated using the character-based method:

Gross WPM:
Gross WPM = Total Correct Characters / 5 / Time (in minutes)

Net WPM:
Net WPM = (Total Correct Characters - Total Errors) / 5 / Time (in minutes)

In this method, 1 word is standardised as 5 characters. The test displays both Gross and Net WPM along with your CPM and accuracy percentage.

Yes! You can paste any Sinhala text into the Custom Text field. This is useful for:

1. Practising with specific Sinhala texts or documents
2. Working on particular Sinhala characters or conjuncts you find difficult
3. Rehearsing content for professional or government document work

Simply paste your Sinhala text in the custom text field, select the Sinhala Wijesekara keyboard layout, and start the test.

Yes! After completing the test, you can generate and download a Sinhala Typing Test Certificate that includes your name, typing speed (WPM), accuracy percentage, total characters typed, test duration, and the date of the test.

The certificate can be downloaded as a PDF or saved as an image. To generate your certificate, complete a typing test and click the "සහතිකය" (Certificate) button in the results panel.

Here is how to enable the Sinhala Wijesekara keyboard on different operating systems:

Windows 10/11: Go to Settings → Time & Language → Language → Add a language → search for "Sinhala" → add it. Then in the language options, add the Wijesekara keyboard layout. Switch input methods using Win + Space.

macOS: Go to System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources → click + → select Sinhala (Wijesekara). Switch layouts using the menu bar icon.

Once enabled, use the virtual keyboard and the keyboard mapping panel on this page as a reference until you become familiar with the layout.