How do you save variables across multiple learning sessions?

I am looking to accomplish this:

A learner launches a course and it has several sections. Each time the learner completes a section, a checkmark appears on the screen, and thus letting the learner know they completed the section. They close the course before completing the whole course. When they come back, the course knows that they had been in two of the five sections and shows them with the checkmark displayed.

I understand how to do this within a single session of a course. Setting a variable and if the variable changes, show an image. I also understand bookmarks and how to turn them on.

What I don't know how to do is store that variable so when they come back to the course, that set of information is still intact.

My assumption is that this requires JavaScript and saving cookies to a learner's computer. Then having the course check for this using JavaScript upon launch.

Is there an easier way to do this with Captivate? Is there a way to leverage the bookmark feature to do this?