Detailed Answer
Yes, most serious typing tests count every character, including spaces, commas, periods, semicolons, quotes, and capitalization. One 'word' is defined as 5 characters – so punctuation and spaces contribute to WPM calculation. For example, 'Hello, world!' has 12 characters (H e l l o , space w o r l d !) = 12/5 = 2.4 words. Some casual tests ignore punctuation, but that inflates scores unrealistically. Always check the test's rules. For job prep, use punctuation-inclusive tests.