Yes, total toe.
Yeah it’s tricky. Using a tape measure by itself builds in error, and the margin you get before you wear tires is pretty dang small. Tape measures aren’t really meant to accurately measure below an 1/8”, and an 1/8” off with that toe can be an issue.
I’ve been using toe plates, and you definitely have to be careful and methodical about how you set them up. And yeah, tape measures are barely accurate enough to pull it off.
For a track only car, or low mileages where you’re gonna time out tires before you wear them out it’s fine. If you wanna get 30k on your tires it’s a pretty tricky thing to be that accurate with.