Digital texts Interactivity, reading experience and comprehensibility
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26512/rici.v14.n1.2021.35339Keywords:
Interactivity, Text comprehension, Information behavior, Reading experience, User studiesAbstract
We present the results of a research whose aim is to evaluate the level of comprehensibility of online texts through a survey on the reading experience. The comprehensibility of the information represents a new aspect of information behavior, conditioned by subjective components and characteristics of the reading experience of those who read. We study the effect of the interactivity of the digital text by comparing the reading experience of two texts, both on the subject of physical exercise and differentiated by the level of interactivity, being higher in one case. Thirty-nine people participated in the survey and data were collected on the reading experience, the understanding of the text and its influence on attitudes and opinions, as well as on the global assessment of the two pages. Comprehension of the text was measured based on 14 true and false questions. The data obtained were analyzed through descriptive statistics and, where appropriate, inferential statistics tests were carried out. The only significant difference that was found between the two pages concerns a better comprehensibility of the more interactive page, although the comprehensibility is not related to a greater use of the interactive functionalities in the two pages. Finally, the results show that the consumption of digital text is conditioned by the expectations that readers bring to it and that interactivity is not only a property of the medium but also co-constructed in the interaction between the medium and the readers.
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