how is access used versus mySQL? i know access isnt much of a web database but what are its advantages/disadvantages over mysql?

I can tell you that Access is horrible for larger websites. If you have a website that is going to stay small and not get much traffic, then it could be OK for you. But if you website gets a lot of traffic, a single Access database can bring down a entire server!

Access should never be ran on a large website.

The only disadvantage of MySQL is that it has to be installed on the server, when Access does not.