First Project

Set the Wayback Machine to 2014. It was my first day at my new job.  I had been hired to be the digital tech lead for a Pharma agency, and already I was being tasked to put out a major fire at a key account. 

Actually, a major fire is an understatement. This was a nuclear bomb about to detonate.  We had delivered 8 interactive learning modules, and none of them worked in the client’s learning management system (LMS).  

We were out of time, and out of budget.  It was a very difficult Monday morning.  Not the way I wanted to start my first day at the new agency.  We all sat in the conference room, and listened in silence as the customer read us the riot act.  We had until the end of the week to fix the problems, or we would lose the client.  

It Didn’t Make Sense

The code worked on our computers: Windows, Mac no problem.  It worked in all of the latest browsers:  Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome.  The client said that they standardized on internet Explorer 11, and our code worked like a champ… just not when loaded and run in their LMS. 

Our team had also been assured that the client LMS environment fully supported HTML5 and .mp4 video. 

A Hostile Environment

The client’s IT department had basically stopped cooperating with our team.  When I reached out to them, they were very curt and unaccommodating.  They would not give us admin access to their LMS, and wouldn’t even do any screen sharing.  We could schedule time, and they would respond to questions, but that was about it.  I made the analogy that it was like trying to perform surgery on a patient on the other side of a brick wall.  

The only access we had was to the deployed courseware that we could access via our browsers.  It was very frustrating. 

Our Code

The learning module code we were trying to deploy was something that had been developed in house.  It was basically a bespoke html5 interactive video. And it was the .mp4 video playback that was seemed to be the problem.  The basic screens and overlay copy and buttons would display, but not the video. The clients IT director confirmed that they did have other HTML5 training modules that used video, but would not share any samples of working code with us. 

Debug Mode

I decided to look at the deployed courseware in my Internet Explorer 11 browser through debug mode.  The idea was to see if the client’s LMS was wrapping any code around our training module, or otherwise modifying our code. 

To enable IE11 debug mode for JavaScript and HTML, you can use the F12 Developer Tools within Internet Explorer 11. Open the Developer Tools by pressing F12 or by going to Tools > F12 Developer Tools. Then, you can inspect elements, debug JavaScript, and analyze network performance.  I started reviewing the code in the debugger’s developer tools.  Everything looked fine.   But wait,I noticed something odd along the bottom of the debug screen.  It said that I was running IE 8, but I clearly wasn’t.  How can this be?

Let’s Try Something

I took the local copy of our code, the code that ran just fine on our computers in IE 11, and put it into debug mode.  The bottom of the debug screen said IE 11.  And our code worked fine.  I then used the Emulation Mode drop-down within the debug screen and selected IE 8.  Boom!  The code stopped working. 

Turns out that Internet Explorer 8 doesn’t fully support HTML5, and also doesn’t support MP4 video playback on HTML5.  I was getting warmer!  I reached out to the client’s IT manager to have him verify a few things. 

Tuesday Morning Testing

I had a morning call scheduled with my team and the client’s IT manager.  I asked him if he could open our training module in his browser.  He did, and chuckled  that it still didn’t work.  I then asked him to put his browser in debug mode, and read me the browser version that it was reporting. 

Awkward silence.

I asked him if he needed the steps to put his browser in debug mode.  He responded that he was in debug mode, but didn’t understand why it was saying it was IE 8 instead of  IE 11. 

I then asked him if he had another different training module he could load: one that had been built using HTML5 and .mp4 video?  He said that he did, and proceeded to load that training. 

It worked, but still said IE 8. 

Not HTML 5

I responded that what he was looking at was probably NOT developed using HTML5.  The culprit was their LMS, and that it was somehow forcing the browser into a legacy IE 8 mode.  

He responded that he was not aware that their LMS had been doing this, and did not know if this was something that could be changed.  He also added that almost ALL of their current training modules are exported as SCORM packages from Articulate Storyline, and that this output files are HTML5. 

This was the first time I had heard the name Articulate Storyline even mentioned. 

I asked if redeveloping the courses in Articulate Storyline was even an option?  He said that’s the way the normally have courses developed, but our prior development team had suggested that developing the courseware in HTML5 would be better and faster.  

A Quick Test

We decided to do a quick test.  I installed a demo copy of Articulate Storyline on my computer, and built a quick mock-up of one of our training modules.  Not the full course, but enough to validate my hunch. 

I send the new test module to the client’s IT manager for him to deploy.  He sent me the new link in about an hour.  It worked perfectly!  The IT manager and I agree that the training modules should all be rebuilt in Articulate Storyline.   But it was Tuesday, and that would mean that our team would need to build 8 modules in 3 days!

Saved by a Spec Sheet

My Client Service team immediately jumped on a call with the client. We needed more time.  The client said “No!”   The team wasn’t sure what to do or how to respond.  

And then I found it.  It a folder of working files the former tech lead had left me was a specifications sheet.  This document detailed the development requirements for any courseware that was to be deployed in their LMS.  And there on the spec sheet it specifically called out that all courseware must be developed in HTML5 and all video must be .MP4.  It stated that all courseware would be running the IE 11 browser.  The spec document had been authored by the client’s IT manager.  

I mentioned that we had developed the courseware to the specifications we had been provided.  The IT manager was also on this call with us, and admitted that he had indeed authored this spec document.  

The client gave us another week. 

We did it!

Our team worked around the clock for the next 10 days.  It was tough, but everything worked as desired.  I won’t say the client was happy, but my team was.  What a way to start a new job!

There is an extremely valuable lesson to learn from this: always make a simple prototype early and deploy it into the target system.  You can’t assume that all the information you are provided with is completely accurate. Even if you are 100% sure, why take the chance?

Have you ever faced a situation where the deck was stacked against you? How did you "Solve the problem"? Let me know in the comments below!

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Google Gemini Prompt

cartoon image of a balding father with a short beard, black hair only on the sides of his head and glasses, wearing jeans and a black Dave Matthews Band t-shirt, using a fire extinguisher to put out a software fire. He should look very determined.