Improving Connection Speeds
If you have a slow Internet connection and are using a graphical browser (a browser that has pictures as well as text), there are a few things you can do to improve your connection speed:
1. If you have a very slow
connection, turn images off.
Although navigational and illustrative images and a few high-bandwidth
items are available in the course, all important content
for the course is provided through text, and all tests and quizzes
are designed to be accessible for all browsers. Most of the files within
modules are quite small, so this course should be accessible to users
with relatively slow Internet connectivity.
Even small images can take a long time if your connection is slow. The easiest, most noticeable option is to turn off images in your browser. The way to do this is slightly different in every browser, but you can usually access this feature through an Options or Preferences menu item. You can always turn the images back on and reload a page if you want to get all the graphics.
2. Don’t dither colors.
Your computer may not be able to read all colors used by this course.
Your browser either automatically finds the closest substitute or uses
a process called dithering, which tries to create a color that comes as
close as possible to the intended shade. Dithering takes more time than
automatic substitution, so if you don’t mind some odd-looking colors
occasionally, make sure dithering is turned off. Usually you can turn
off dithering in an Options/Preferences menu item.
If the colors used in the course look strange, make sure you have your system set for the maximum number of colors it can support. This may vary from 16 or 256 colors to several million, depending on the type of monitor and graphics card installed in your computer.
3. Make your cache smaller.
Browsers usually store Web pages in both memory caches and disk caches,
and your computer checks each newly requested document against both of
these caches. This can take unnecessary time. In most browsers you can
set your cache option to check “once per session.” If you notice
that it takes an especially long time to shut down your browser, try reducing
the size of your disk cache.
Using this Course in Low-Bandwidth Settings
Although this course is designed to be as accessible as possible for users in low-bandwidth settings, some users—particularly in developing world countries—may have difficulty completing these courses online. In these cases, you may prefer to download a version of the course for offline reading, connecting only to take online quizzes.
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