Gone are the days when taking the state drivers license test meant sitting at desk with paper and pencil. In this age where nearly everything is handled by computers, residents only need to have the right touch.

Even being able to read or speak English is no longer a requirement.

Since December, the Alabama Department of Public Safety office in the Dallas County Courthouse annex has been using electronic testing machines in order to measure people’s driving knowledge.

Using touch-screen technology, the questions are displayed on a computer screen and residents simply touch the answer they think is correct.

“We have about 15 testing stations at the office,” said State Trooper John Reese. “Everything except the boat license test is done on the computers.”

With a telephone headset attached to each computer station, residents can hear a voice reading the questions and multiple-choice answers shown on the computer screen.

“This is beneficial to people who can’t read or write,” Reese said. “Some people like having the questions read to them.”

Cpl. Durwood White said twelve different languages are programmed into the system, allowing people to take the test in everything from Spanish to Chinese.

“In the future, we will have a test that is all sign language,” White said. “The screen will show all the different hand signals.”

In the past, there were only six different written state tests given to those applying for a license.

This new system has hundreds of questions to chose from, all presented in random order, so no test is exactly alike.

“You can given skip a question you don’t know the answer to. The computer will just provide a different question to make up for it,” White said. “It is never the same test each time you take it.”

Using a separate computer, administrators can watch the progress of someone taking their drivers license test.

White said Judy Vanluchene, state director for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, provided the Public Safety office with the new machines through federal funding.

“Everybody who has taken (the computerized test) says they really like it,” White said.

When applying for a state drivers license, residents need a certified birth certificate, social security card, and verification of school enrollment if under the age of 19.

There is a $5 fee per test and a $23 issuance fee. The Public Safety office is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.