Those of you who have taken any of PASS' training courses will have noticed the [bs_label type="primary"]Report Problem[/bs_label] button in the top right corner of each page.  This is a drop-down menu allowing users to report any of the following problems with a training page:[bs_row class="row"]
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• Image not loading
• Audio not loading
• Image & audio not loading

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• Typos/strange wording
• Audio doesn't match text
• File download not working

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[/bs_row]We introduced this option to empower users to alert us to issues in our trainings so that we can correct them.  Issues with typos/strange wording or audio not matching the text can be corrected pretty easily.  Sometimes, however, issues with images, audio, and downloads not loading are beyond our control.  Here are some reasons why these issues may appear.

• Consider the company server or firewall.  Earlier this year, I wrote about PASS' choice "To Link, or not to Link" URLs within our training courses.  Just as company servers and firewalls may prevent you from leaving an approved domain (e.g., the company website), they may also prevent or restrict loading of image, audio, and/or document files.  We have noticed that sometimes the same issues are reported by individuals at the same company.  That suggests that the company server or firewall may be interfering with file loading.
• Consider your internet browser.  Last year, Kyle Keesling wrote about PASS' plans regarding support for Internet Explorer.  If you are using Internet Explorer version 6, 7, or 8, these are not compatible with HTML 5, which we use in our trainings.  (If you don't know which version you're using, click the in the upper right corner of your browser and select "About Internet Explorer.")  This incompatibility can cause file loading issues with our trainings.
• Consider content delivery network (CDN) issues.  A content delivery network, or CDN, is a system of linked servers housed in various locations across the the world.  Information in our trainings is deposited on each server in a CDN.  When you take a PASS course, your computer pulls the information (images, audio, and documents) from the server location closest to you for the fastest delivery.  Depending on your location, the nearest server could be across the street or many miles away.  Sometimes these servers can experience problems outside of our control. These issues are typically resolved quickly but can result in images or videos not loading properly.

This is not to say stop reporting problems to us--we still want your feedback!  The purpose of this post is to offer you information on some of the reasons why these issues may be happening.