Cross browser testing

Visitors can access the site using different browsers, operating systems and their versions. Therefore, to ensure a positive user experience for all customers, you need to make sure that the resource works correctly on any device with different configurations. That’s what cross-browser testing is for.

In simple words, cross-browser testing makes it possible to check the correct operation of a website in different browsers, operating systems, devices and resolutions. This is one of the main stages of QA, without which the software product cannot be provided to the end user.

In the past, there were few sites on the Internet, and their very existence was valued not so much as their quality. But those days are long gone, and today there are only two mouse clicks between a business and its competitors.

According to research by McKinsey & Company, 25% of online consumers abandon a brand after their first bad experience using a website. In such conditions, its popularity and efficiency largely depend on the quality of the web resource on different platforms. Therefore, this issue should be given sufficient attention.

There are two types of testing – manual and automated. To ensure the best result, most projects use both of these approaches. Consider the advantages and features of each of them.

Manual testing

During manual testing, the QA engineer personally interacts with the web application in all the necessary browsers and on all devices, sequentially executing test scripts.

Pros of that approach:

• The ability to check the appearance and usability of the site from the point of view of the end user.
• Low cost, if we talk about small projects.
• Guided by common sense, a person can check the performance of the site in non-standard situations, and detect non-obvious defects.

Of the minuses, it is worth highlighting the presence of the human factor and the long duration – manual testing can take days, weeks or even months.

Automated testing

To conduct such testing, QA engineers write special programs – test scripts that independently perform routine checks and significantly speed up the product release cycle.

Advantages of automation:

• High test speed.
• No human error.
• Repeatability – once written tests can be used repeatedly, at any time of the day.

For all its advantages, automated testing can be quite expensive for small projects, since it involves the creation of additional software. In addition, automatic checks operate strictly within the script and are not able to deviate from them to detect less obvious defects.

When determining the priority browsers and devices in which the web application will be tested, there are several factors to consider:

• Analytics and site usage data.

Analytical tools such as Google Analytics make it possible to collect information about which browsers and operating systems customers use most when visiting a website. Based on their preferences, you can decide whether to test the project in the most popular browsers.

• Browser popularity data.

Also, to determine the browsers in which testing will be carried out, you can be guided by statistical data on the popularity of browsers in a particular region.

For example, at the beginning of 2022, more than 73% of people in Ukraine use Google Chrome, another 8% use Safari, and 6.3% use Firefox.

• Old versions of browsers and OS.

There is a high probability that some users use old versions of browsers or operating systems, and for some reason do not update them. This is important to keep in mind when testing.

The number of browsers selected for testing may vary, depending on the size of the target market, however, it is recommended to test the performance of the resource in at least 5 popular browsers and operating systems.

There are three main types of cross-browser site testing, which differ in their specifics and goals:

• Exploratory testing. Most often performed by a QA engineer manually, to find non-obvious errors in the operation of the interface that may occur in unpredictable circumstances. With the help of such tests, developers can find out how the end user will use the product, and how the site reacts to certain actions.

• Visual testing. With the help of such testing, QA engineers can make sure that the site looks correct in different browsers and operating systems. Also at this stage, the work of CSS animations and managed JavaScript components is checked.
• Functional testing. Functional tests help to ensure that all elements of a software product work as intended and that users can use it to perform the intended operations without hindrance. Most often, such testing is the most labor-intensive, and is automated as much as possible.

AVADA MEDIA has been operating in the market of innovative developments for more than 10 years. Before the official release, each site developed by us passes all levels of testing, including cross-browser testing.

To learn more about how we work, or to discuss the creation of your project, contact us in any convenient way.