Abstract

To explore the influence of e-book format and reading device on users’ reading experience, this paper studied a group of graduate students’ reading speed and comprehension. The participants were asked to read same length content from the same monograph chapter in both fixed layout format file (PDF) and fluid format file (EPUB) on four different reading devices: laptop, tablet, dedicated e-reader and smart phone. Their reading process, speed and comprehension were recorded and compared. Through the experiment and depth interviews, this study found that e-book format and reading devices have influence on reading speed and reading comprehension level. Generally speaking, people read EPUB files faster than PDF files. For smart phone, dedicated e-reader and tablet, participants’ average reading comprehension is higher when reading EPUB file, while most participants read PDF file faster when they use laptops.

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