Reason Why Comprehension Level Tends to Decrease at Reading Tasks on Displays
—Challenge to the Realization of Readable Electronic Papers—

Abstract

This study focuses on the effect of the difference between two reading styles, scrolling and paging, for understanding a larger volume of contents than that can be displayed on a computer screen at once. This kind of investigation should contribute for clarifying the ideal design of readable and convenient electronic paper. Understanding levels of subjects were evaluated with correct answer rates to simple questions and time consumptions for reading and answering. The paging style showed better performances for both on correct answer rates and time consumptions. These results indicate that page construction contributes to understanding levels of comprehension task for a large volume of contents. This indication should be considered as an important guideline for designing readable and convenient electronic papers.