video call on top, text chat on bottom?

February 22, 2021 4:44 AM

I'm looking for a platform or client that will do a video call but with a chat box on the bottom (not side) of the screen so that the two can be better-integrated, like for example if two people have different access needs and one does better typing while the other does better speaking, or someone wants to switch back and forth between the two.

-To me a chat box below video (almost similar to closed captioning, though not overlaying the video) feels much better for integration of text+video than a chat box on the side
-This only needs to be an option for one-on-one calls, not for group meetings
-I realize this could be cobbled together with a text chat + separate video chat on a different platform and arranging the windows carefully, but one integrated tool would be much easier.
-As far as I can tell, Zoom & Google Meet can only do a chat window on the side, but I am a very casual user of those so I might be missing some configuration option.

posted by needs more cowbell to Technology (3 answers total)

It's not quite as integrated or automatic as you probably want, but in Zoom if you look in the Chat sidebar, in the upper left corner, you'll see a downward-facing caret that lets you choose 'Pop Out'. This will throw the chat into a separate window that can be arranged manually to sit underneath the video call. This has to be done manually by each user who wants that arrangement, but it works.

Once it's popped out, you can put it back by looking in the lower right corner of the chat box, clicking the '...' ellipsis button, and choosing 'Merge to Meeting Window.'
posted by BlackPebble at 5:19 AM on February 22, 2021 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Ah, I see that Zoom option now. It's clunkier than I'd like/doesn't work well on my 12.5" laptop screen because the chat window takes up a lot of space relative to the amount of text it's showing but it's good to have that as an option.
posted by needs more cowbell at 6:20 AM on February 22, 2021

Memailed you :)
posted by wowenthusiast at 7:51 AM on February 22, 2021