How to Connect to a Webcast

Webcasting, or broadcasting over the web, is one of the great benefits of using the Internet to share information. A webcast often resembles a lecture, sometimes even with accompanying slide presentations and chat capabilities, except that you are participating from the comfort of your own home, office or classroom. Connecting to view a webcast is easy, but does require a few preliminary steps. They are:

  1. Check that your system meets minimum system requirements.
  2. You will need to make sure you have RealPlayer software installed on your computer.
  3. For best results you should view with version 3.0 or greater of Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer, and the latest version of RealPlayer (Currently 8.0). If you need to install or upgrade either of these applications, click on How to Download an Internet browser or the RealPlayer (This page also includes information on Downloading the Adobe Acrobat Reader)

  1. How to connect:

    Click on the word "Audio" or "Video" next to the title of the session you wish to hear or view. A screen like this will pop up:

    To control the video, use the gray RealPlayer toolbar located near the top of the window:

    Below are instructions on how to use each of the buttons on the toolbar, from left to right.

    The play button allows you to resume play if you have paused or stopped the video or audio.

    The pause button allows you to pause the video or audio during playback. To resume playback from that point, press the play button.

    The stop button allows you to stop the video or audio completely. If you press the play button after using the stop button, the video or audio will start over from the beginning.

    This button allows you to scroll through the video or audio. To fast forward, click and hold on the small arrows and slide them to the right. Moving it to the left will rewind the video or audio. When you release the button, the video or audio should begin to play from that point. You may need to wait a few seconds while RealPlayer downloads that portion of the video.

    The mute button will turn off the sound completely.

    The volume control button allows you to adjust the volume. Click on this button and a slide will appear. To turn the volume up, slide the button up, to turn it down, slide the button down. You can also adjust the volume on your speakers.

    Clicking on the real button will take you to the real.com web site.

    You can also right click in the video window for another menu with additional options. You can adjust the size of the screen by clicking Zoom. However, zooming drastically reduces the quality of the video (if there is any) so you may want to avoid this feature.. If you do zoom to full screen, hit the Esc key to return the video to original size. The Preferences option gives you advanced control over your RealPlayer settings, and the Statistics option gives you detailed information your RealPlayer connection.