[Trainer-Talk] Zoom Question

[Snow, Amy L. (IT)]

Good evening all,

I did not experience this firsthand, but I did promise to look into the issue.  I apologize in advance if this is a "no brainer".  I'm kind of stumped, so I thought maybe one of you would be able to help.

One of my colleagues was in a Zoom meeting with a student.  It was an IEP where the principal was the host.  My friend asked the student if she could hear when her parents and other staff entered the meeting.  The student said yes, and she could hear when they were in the waiting room also.  My colleague tested the student by asking her to tell when the next person was in the waiting room and to identify them and the student was able to do so.  We did not think this should be possible, but it happened and we are slightly confused as to why.

Now, the student obviously was not the host and as far as we know, she should not have been able to see who was in the waiting room.  She did not have an account that was verified by our organization, though she may have had a free or paid account of her own.  She was using a Macbook, but we don't know whether Zoom was being used through the web or the app was downloaded.

The principal seemed to think it was something the screen reader was telling her that may not have been available to her if she had not been using it.  My response was that a screen reader would not have access to information that the system didn't permit, so it would be either a bug in the system that allowed her to see this or in some way the meeting settings permitted it.  I'm wondering if any of you have had any similar experiences of a non-host being able to view the waiting room?

Any assistance and advice you can provide is greatly appreciated!

Amy