Presenters can use screen sharing to display local content from the computer. This allows you to show viewers (dynamic) content that cannot be uploaded to BigBlueButton as a static PDF. You have the choice of sharing the entire screen, an application window, or a web page from your browser during the broadcast.
Screen sharing is supported on web browsers running Linux, macOS and Windows. The feature is currently not available on mobile devices running iOS, iPadOS and Android.
Click the right "Share your screen" button located in the media control center at the bottom of the main area.
Then your web browser asks you via dialog which content you want to share: This can be the entire screen, a specifically opened application window or a web page, depending on your preference.
When you share a web page, users see only the selected web page, even if you navigate outside the chosen website. If you close the tab or browser window, screen sharing ends automatically. This option is recommended if you want to show only a specific web page. It also requires less bandwidth than sharing the whole screen.
When sharing an application window, users will see only the selected window, even if you navigate outside the chosen application. If you close the window, screen sharing ends automatically. This option is recommended if you plan to use the same application. It also requires less bandwidth than sharing the entire screen. Note that the application window should be on the same virtual desktop as your conference window so that you can select it.
When sharing an entire screen, users will see your screen even when navigating between different application windows. This option is recommended if you use several applications and do not wish to reconfigure the screen share with each change.
First, select the desired type in the tab (1) at the top. Then, depending on your choice, the available screens, application windows or web pages are displayed in the lower area (2). By clicking on a suitable entry, you select it for sharing.
If you select a web page in Chromium based web browsers, you can optionally include the audio signal (3) as well. This way you can also play local media, as long as the browser supports the media format. On Windows, it is possible with Chromium based browsers to include system audio when sharing an entire screen.
If you want to cancel the process, use the button of the same name (4). Afterwards you will see the error message in the conference room that BigBlueButton could not get a permission to access your screen.
To start the screen sharing, confirm with the "Share" button (5) at the bottom right.
In the Firefox dialog you can select a window or a screen. Click on the appropriate entry in the selection list (6), a preview appears below it. "Allow" (7) sharing via the button of the same name at the bottom right.
If the dialog does not appear or if an error message appears in the conference room, BigBlueButton has already been denied permission to access the screen. In this case, click on the permission button to the left of the address bar in the browser, usually with microphone icon (8), which brings up the web page permissions dialog. There you will find the entry "Access screen" and to the right of it a button to remove ("Temporarily blocked" or "Blocked", 9). Confirm the latter and then restart screen sharing in BigBlueButton as described above.
Now it can take a moment until the transmission, users are then still shown a rotating arrow. The screen share replaces the presentation area for everyone. The annotation tools are not available with screen sharing.
If presenters show their own conference room during screen sharing, a mirror effect occurs because the video stream of the screen sharing cannot be hidden. If it is necessary to show your own conference room, you can mitigate the effect somewhat (using a second monitor) by using the browser's picture-in-picture feature.
To do this, call up the context menu by right-clicking while the cursor is over the screen share. After calling up the "Picture in Picture" (Chrome) or "Watch in Picture-in-Picture" (Firefox) function, the video is displayed in a separate window. You can resize it and drag it to another screen if necessary.
To stop screen sharing, click the button with the monitor icon at the bottom of the media control again.