Task Type: Screen Recording
Screen Recording is an extension of the Multimedia Task that allows a participant to record their computer screen while capturing audio-commentary. Participants can submit and annotate multiple screen recordings as a single response.
One great aspect of this feature is that a screen recording does not require participants to download and install software. It also does not require that participants install browser add-ons like Chrome and Firefox extensions.
Screen recording does require that participants use the desktop version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. It will not function on mobile devices as mobile web browsers do not support screen sharing. Learn more about browser requirements in the section below.
Browser Requirements
Screen recording in Recollective makes use of a built-in capability of modern web browsers to capture a screen, not unlike a browser's ability to connect with the computer's webcam.
Not all browsers support screen sharing but support is increasing. Three major browsers are currently available on all platforms which do offer support:
- Google Chrome
- Mozilla Firefox
- Microsoft Edge
Task Setup
Enabling the Screen Recording response type in a Multimedia Task (or selecting Screen Recording from the Task Type menu) is similar to the other media response types.
If you plan on having your participants navigate to an external URL before recording their screen, you can add that URL to the Starting Address field. This will add a Get Started button that participants can select to start their screen recording and send them to the URL you have specified at the same time. Participants will just need to select the Get Started button and then select the screen they would like to share. Since the button will open the URL in a new tab, the participant will need to display their current screen or window.
You can use the Limit quantity and Allow screen recording descriptions options to set desired minimum and / or maximum submissions and allow for individualized text descriptions respectively. Once descriptions have been enabled, you can choose to make them required and customize the description prompt.
Task Completion
When participants respond to a Multimedia Task with Screen Recording enabled, a Record Screen option will appear like the one below:
If the participant is using an unsupported browser, a warning will appear with links to the supported browsers.
If no starting address is specified on the Task set up page
Once Record Screen is selected, the recorder will load in the page and the browser will ask the participant to select a screen, application or browser tab to share.
Pressing the Share button will start the recording.
If a starting address was specified on the task set up page
The participant will be redirected to that URL once they select Share and the recording will being automatically.
Saving a Recording
Once the screen recording has been completed, the participant can select Save Recording or click on the red stop button to save it.
Upon saving the recording, the video will be processed for playback. At this point, the participant can safely move on to submit an additional recording or proceed to the next Task.
The recorded video will appear once it is processed if the participant waits for the processing to be completed (although this is not required).
Note that any audio captured during the screen recording will be automatically transcribed like all other video submissions. This transcription is only visible to the Study administrators.
For more information on how you can leverage the Screen Recording Task type within your research, make sure to check out our Spotlight: Screen Recording Task blog article!