Thesis Archive
Usability assessment of screen text presentation for reading E-books (2010)
Cano, Samantha E.
Ching, Mikmaro B.
Datu, Jessica S.
Abstract:
-The life of people today is dominated by the technology that they use or own. Different gadgets such as cell phones and cameras are a common sight to see. Automation has also started for manufacturing processes and other processes as well. All of these aspects show the changes that have been going on in society. The continuous growth or change in technology has brought about trends in different industries such as communication and even reading.
Reading technology has developed from the traditional print books to e-books read through dedicated readers. The idea behind e-books is to be able to spread or make passages and books more accessible and easier to share. These are often viewed through VDTs or visual display terminals. Nowadays, a new type of device has been created dedicated solely for reading e-books. Though technology has changed and different advancements have been made, there is still difficulty in the market to completely use e-books. There is still some hesitance with the technology and a perceived difficulty in its use. Most of the reasons which have been pointed out regarding this have pertained to the cost of e-book, its accessibility and availability as well as the eye fatigue experienced when reading. Other than this, readability has also been cited as a contributing factor. This particularly relates to the ease with which text is read.
Different studies have been conducted to improve the readability of texts presented on screen where an e-book belongs. With regards to readability most studies have been concerned with font size and font type. There are, however other factors which affect it such as line spacing, contrast and number of columns. This study aims to discover the optimal font type, font size, line spacing, contrast and number of columns through reading measures such as reading time, reading accuracy and subjective satisfaction. The data obtained from these data are then evaluated through different statistical analysis methods as well as design of experiments.
Based on the results obtained, column specification is found significant across all responses while font type is found insignificant. This may be due to the fact that users are verse in the fonts utilizes that made them insignificant and their effect undistinguishable. Aside from this, interaction between line spacing and column specification, line spacing and color contrast, font size and font type, color contrast and column specification, color contrast and font type, and column specification and font type are found which could aid and inform designers in creating a more usable design of e-books that would contribute in improving the visual comfort of the said medium.
The significant and interaction between factors is used as basis in developing a readability guideline that will improve the readability and provide visual comfort in using e-books. This also used to suggest combination of factors which can give an optimal screen text design for e-books. A contrast ratio from 10:1 to 19:1 would provide best reading performance and therefore comfort in reading; .5 spacing is appropriate for a color contrast ratio of 10:1. It should also be noted that an increase in column specification corresponds to a decrease in interlinear spacing, font size, and color contrast, and etc.
Moreover, recommendations are made for further research. Readability factors considered for this study is constrained to only five (5) factors. There may be other readability factors found. Studying other e-book file type and e-book readers could also provide new insights in providing new set of readability guidelines in various e-book reading devices and file type. Furthermore, implementing a high cognitive load such as mental task recall could also provide valuable insights and results that could determine the effect of various format settings on the amount of work that is put to read the medium.
Adviser:
Jazmin Chong – Tangsoc