A participant is stuck at the start of the exam

Before starting, each participant goes through several setup screens. If one of them does not unlock, the participant cannot start. This article lists the most common blockers, what the participant should do, and what you can do on your end.

Help a stuck participant

In Monitor › Live, click ⁝ at the end of the participant's row. Depending on your exam settings, you may find:

• Disable Screen Recording: the participant can access the exam without sharing their screen.

• Disable spell checker verification: the participant no longer has to disable their extensions.

• Disable Evalmee app requirement: the Evalmee app is no longer required for this participant.

The action applies immediately; the participant does not need to reload the page.

The “Next” button does not appear or stays grayed out

The button waits for the current screen to be completed. Depending on the screen displayed:

• That's it for now!: the exam is not yet accessible. The next steps open a few minutes before the opening time. Just wait and reload the page.

• Exam conditions: Understood stays grayed out until the “I certify that I consent to the processing of my data by Evalmee…” checkbox is checked (exams with camera proctoring).

• Set up your equipment: the My equipment is ready button only appears when the camera and microphone are working. See “The camera is not detected”.

• Identity validation: Next appears after the photo of the ID document.

• Your reference photos: Next appears once the three photos (facing forward, head turned left, head turned right) are saved with Take the photo then Confirm photo.

• Screen sharing: Next only appears once the entire screen is shared. If there is an error, only the Update screen sharing button is displayed. See “Screen sharing is denied or not possible”.

• Spell checker tools check: no button as long as a forbidden extension is active. See “An extension is blocking access”.

• Honor code: Start stays grayed out until the “I commit to taking this exam on my own and not cheating.” checkbox is checked, or until the exam is open. The button turns blue when the exam opens.

Screen sharing is denied or not possible

What the participant sees: a red error message under Share my screen. The possible messages:

• “You must share your entire screen, not a window or a tab.”: in the browser window, the participant must choose the entire screen, not a window or a tab. The Update screen sharing button restarts the selection.

• “You must use a single screen to take the exam.”: the participant must unplug or disable any additional screens.

• “Make sure you have accepted screen sharing.”: the participant declined or closed the sharing window. On Chrome, they must also allow the “Window management” permission requested by the browser.

• “You must enable screen sharing in your computer settings.”: on a Mac, the browser does not have permission to record the screen. The participant opens System Settings › Privacy & Security › Screen & System Audio Recording, checks their browser, then restarts the browser if needed.

After several attempts, the “Can't share your screen?” link appears and opens a help page.

What you can do: Disable Screen Recording for this participant.

The camera is not detected

What the participant sees: at the Set up your equipment step, the Camera (or Microphone) row shows Access blocked, with the Allow access and How to unblock buttons. A message says, for example, “It looks like your webcam is blocked by your browser”.

What they need to do:

1. Click Allow access, then accept the browser's request.

2. If access stays blocked: on Chrome, click the crossed-out camera icon in the address bar, then “Always allow…”. On Firefox, remove the temporary block. On Safari, open Settings › Websites › Camera and choose Allow for Evalmee. Then click Retry.

3. Check that the camera is not covered by a physical cover and that no other application (video conferencing…) is using it.

What you can do: suggest another browser or another computer. The camera steps (equipment, reference photos) cannot be skipped for a single participant. Disable Camera Recording only stops the recording.

As a last resort, disable camera proctoring for the whole exam: Configure tab, Proctoring section, set Camera proctoring to Off. You can do this during the exam, but you will not be able to turn it back on while the exam is in progress, and it stops for all participants.

If you need help, contact support: Support: live chat, hotline, and on-call hours

The participant is using a work computer

Work or institution computers are often locked down by their administrator: mandatory extensions, blocked camera or screen sharing, network filtering. Evalmee cannot bypass these rules.

• When the exam opens, a Device compatibility check card is displayed if the device fails any of these tests: Browser compatibility, Storage space, Graphics acceleration, Background processing. Each failing row explains the problem.

• The simplest option is to take the exam on a personal computer, or to ask the IT department to allow Evalmee.

• Have the computer tested in advance with Recommended hardware setup for participants

The participant is on an iPad, tablet, or smartphone

What the participant sees: “You must use a computer to take this exam.” at the Screen sharing step. Screen recording is not supported on tablets or smartphones.

What you can do: Disable Screen Recording for this participant, from Monitor › Live. They can then take the exam from their device. See Disable screen recording for a participant

An extension is blocking access

When the Disable spell checkers option is on, the participant sees the Spell checker tools check step. It blocks access if a spelling, grammar, or translation extension (Grammarly, DeepL…) is active.

What the participant sees: the Forbidden Extensions list and the message “Disable these extensions and reload the page to continue”.

What they need to do: disable the listed extensions, then reload the page. The “How do I disable browser extensions?” link details the steps for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. On Chrome, it is the ⋮ menu › More tools › Extensions.

What you can do: Disable spell checker verification for this participant.

The Evalmee app is required

If the exam requires the Evalmee app, the participant sees Evalmee app required. They must download the app, log in, and open the exam from the app. To exempt them, use Disable Evalmee app requirement in the ⁝ menu.

The browser is not compatible

The message “Evalmee is not compatible with your browser version” asks the participant to update the browser or use Chrome or Firefox. Recommend these two browsers to your participants.

FAQ