The future of the developed product fully depends on the quality of cross-browser testing, so it should be executed accurately. There are many aspects to consider when testing a web application.
To ensure it is properly planned and represents all aspects required, it is always good and useful to have and stick to a browser compatibility testing checklist.
Testing checklist is designed to pre-plan all the activities required to conduct a browser compatibility test. Developers and testers usually use it to make sure nothing is left behind. Below there are some aspects that should be checked.
Preparation
Before going on the checklist you need to know what is browser compatibility testing, how to perform it and what browsers to test in. Answer the following questions:
Content
When testing a product in different browsers, ensure your content is interpreted as intended:
Layout
While some layout elements may not behave as expected in some browsers, it is necessary to check the following aspects before going live:
Functionality
Be sure to keep the following points in mind when checking functionality of your product:
The main purpose of testing is to check how the web resource displays and functions in a given browser or operating system. This usually involves running your website across browsers to validate whether any of the styles, layout, or functionality are different or inappropriate.
The website should be cross-browser compatible to ensure the best user experience. You can't just start testing your product in various browsers without preparation.
Everyone knows: before going live, browser testing is a must. Testing is undoubtedly crucial, but proper preparation is equally important. So, take your time to determine the scope and amount of testing, do not forget to list out the targeted browsers and devices used by your audience.
Once done with preparation, the next step is to go through items from Content, Layout and Functionality groups of the checklist.
Content available on your site should be understandable and well structured for each of the browsers. If you do not check the cross-browser compatibility of the resource, content is likely to be interpreted differently.
The following things may happen: images will not be displayed in their standard resolutions, fonts will become unreadable for the user. When do cross browser tests, make sure your audio and video files are working properly and images are optimized.
Layout testing is provided to verify all layout elements and layout itself are consistent regardless of the operating system and browser type. The page layout may break on devices with different resolutions. Therefore, you should test the site to ensure the layout matches the expectations of your design.
Check the alignment of data content on web pages, arrangement of elements, and the spacing between sections, fields, paragraphs, images, data content, and also verify you didn't miss out on elements presented in the mockup.
Take care of browser compatibility at the development stage. When it comes to cross browser compatibility issues and solutions, there are some rules that need to be adhered to. When developing a cross-browser compatible website do not forget to validate HTML and CSS, use CSS resets, check for Doctype. In this way, you will be able to avoid most of the issues related to site display.
Functional testing is high on the website testing checklist. It ensures that every feature of your website works as it should.
For example, by testing functionality testers check if all forms and other dynamic interactions work consistently across targeted browsers, validate different functionalities like form submit and test navigation links. The functionality of your product plays an immense role and should not be neglected while testing.
Comparium is a great solution to test the site for all checklist points. It provides flexibility along with a wide range of different devices and browsers. You can easily check items from the Content group of the checklist and compare the full page responsive layout with Comparium’s Screenshot tool. Just upload the mockup and check whether the layout meets design expectations.
The testing process takes only a few minutes and requires simple steps: insert the URL of the tested website, select browser/operating system combination and screen resolution and click the Create Screenshots button. Based on the results of the check, you will receive a set of screenshots that will show all the problems, if any.
Comparium comes with 4 comparison modes that make revealing incompatibilities of layout more convenient. You will definitely appreciate the ability to compare screenshots simultaneously and finding differences with a slider cursor. What’s more, incompatibilities are automatically highlighted on the compared screenshot.
Comparium offers a set of features for live browser testing and allows you to interact with web resources through remote infrastructure. With a live testing tool, you can check some items from the Functionality group of the checklist and simplify the workflow.
Comparium comprises everything you need to test your website on different browsers and at various resolutions. Thanks to Comparium, checking the content, layout, and functionality of your web resource will not take a lot of time and effort.
Summing up, it’s worth saying that it is almost impossible to achieve 100% identical website display in all browsers. Therefore, the main goal should be the readability of the text, the correct display of images, the availability of all important elements and the proper operation of the functionality across browsers.
In order not to miss important points during testing, it is recommended to use a browser compatibility testing checklist that contains all the necessary and essential points. A proper checklist makes the testing process much faster and helps to achieve compatibility with all available browsers.
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