Actually Access can also connect to databases, read / write, and then disconnect, it is not necessary that the connection is always active
Even if this is not the classic mode of use As for compaction, in reality it is only useful in the development environment, while if you distribute the mde or accde file it is not necessary
The main point is that Access was not born and is not suitable for creating web applications, and if you try to use it for these things it is normal that great difficulties arise
It is also true that Access allows you to quickly create both single-user and multi-user desktop applications with a speed that is difficult to reach with other environments.
In case it's not clear, I think Access is an excellent development environment for the things it was designed for