Regions sold short on Internet

REGIONAL Australia is being sold short by Internet web site designers who are creating barriers and holding back widespread Internet usage, according to a new report from the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation.

Communications specialist Jim Groves found content providers ignored issues such as poor infrastructure and web overload when designing sites, drastically reducing their impact in regional areas.

Mr Groves highlighted areas of concern including the use of excessive graphics that slow down load times, resulting in user frustration.

“Some 70 per cent of Australia agricultural websites take the average rural Internet user longer to download than is conventionally considered acceptable,” Mr Groves said.

“This is often in areas where the timed cost of connection is much higher than the city.”