Optimal Line Length for Reading Schoolbook on Screen

Although experimental studies have shown a strong impact of text layout on the legibility of etext, many digital texts appearing in eBook or the internet use different designs, so that there is no straightforward answer in the literature over which one to follow when designing ematerial. Therefore, in this paper we shall focus on the text layout, particularly the influence of line length on reading performance of e-school book. An intensive experiment has been conducted which targeted school students between the age of 9 and 13. Performance of students was assessed through two dependent variables: (1) time to complete each tasks; and (2) accuracy of the answers. Accuracy data was based on the number of correct answers the students provided and the total score was 12 points. Several of findings were reported by this experiment such as; the time needed to complete all the question models becomes significantly low when students are older, errors for all the question models are expected to be significantly lower for older students. Comparing reading text on a single column with double columns shows that the reading process is affected by the students’ age, as older students were faster when reading through double columns, while students aged 9 prefer the single column in both reading processes. The study has recommended double line for a faster reading among students with satisfactory reading performance, while long line was suggested for students who have difficulty with their reading.