Content

  • What Is Browser?
  • What Is Cross-Browser Application Testing?
  • Why Is Cross-Browser Application Testing Performed?
  • How To Perform Cross-Browser Application Testing?
  • How Do We Ensure Cross-Browser Application Testing For Compatibility?

What Is Browser?

Software created to access and display content from the World Wide Web is known as a web browser. It delivers web pages, photos, videos, and documents on a user's device after retrieving them from servers.

You type a website's URL into the address bar of your browser to visit it. The browser then uses protocols like HTTPS or HTTP to communicate with the website's server. Files normally authored in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are returned by the server. The web page you see is created by the browser's interpretation of this code.

In essence, the browser serves as a conduit, allowing you and the website to communicate with one another. It transmits your requests to the server and formats the server's reply for ease of use. 

Have you ever had the experience of thinking a website is broken because it doesn't appear properly on a particular browser? However, the identical website works flawlessly when opened in another browser. This phenomenon emphasises the importance of a website's browser compatibility.

This discrepancy results from how each browser interprets the data displayed on a web page. Some browsers might not have the tools essential to display your website effectively, giving it a broken appearance. Make sure users are not required to utilise a specific browser in order to access your web application.

This takes us to the main subject of the conversation today: Cross-Browser Application Testing. In a world where Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and other widely used browsers are utilised, it is crucial to confirm and guarantee that your website works properly across this wide range of browser environments.

What Is Cross-Browser Application Testing?

  1. As the name implies, Cross-Browser Application Testing is testing your website or application across a variety of web browsers to guarantee that it functions as intended and consistently across all of them, without relying on particular browser requirements or sacrificing quality.
  2. Both web and mobile apps can use this technique.
  3. It's critical to concentrate on applications that interact with customers when deciding which applications demand Cross-Browser Testing. Although technically all applications serve clients in some capacity, let's look at an illustration to make this idea clearer:

Application 1: Created for use internally by a business to monitor inventory.

Application 2: Designed to allow customers to buy goods from the same business.

Application 2 is the obvious option for this scenario's browser compatibility testing. This is due to the fact that you have no control over the browsers, operating systems, or version choices made by end users. On the other hand, there is no need to investigate or test for alternative browser variants when it comes to Application 1 if all company-internal computers are consistently Windows 8 devices with the Chrome browser.

Why Is Cross-Browser Application Testing Performed?

The main objective of testing can be boiled down to a few main ones in general:

  1. To Find Issues: Whether it's a website, application, or other program, testing is done to identify and comprehend what is incorrect or not working as it should. This assists in identifying concerns and problems that need to be resolved.
  2. Enhancing Efficiency And User Experience: Testing tries to improve the software or system's efficiency and user experience. It guarantees that the product runs without a hitch and gives users a better experience by locating and fixing problems. This can then benefit the company in a beneficial way.
  3. Mitigating Crash Risks And Downtime: Testing is a proactive strategy to find and fix potential programme flaws, assuring efficient operations and minimising downtime.

Its Goals Are Twofold When It Comes To Cross-Browser Testing:

  1. Consistency In Appearance: Cross-browser testing ensures that a website or application looks the same across several web browsers. It determines whether there are any variations in the layout, design, and overall visual appearance. Maintaining a consistent and expert user experience depends on this.
  2. Functionality And Performance: Cross-Browser testing assesses a website or application's functionality and performance in addition to its visual appeal. It ensures that, regardless of the user's preferred browser, the system's functions operate as intended across a variety of browsers and that users can interact with and use it without experiencing any problems.

How To Perform Cross-Browser Testing?

Testing across many browsers can be done manually or with the use of specialised tools.

  • Manual Method:

In the manual approach, a company first decides which particular browsers the application needs to work with. Following the execution of the identical set of test cases across these many browsers, testers closely monitor the behaviour of the application and report any bugs or inconsistencies they find.

However, manual Cross-Browser Testing has a number of disadvantages. It can be difficult to thoroughly cover a wide range of browsers, and it might not include all significant browser versions. Additionally, because several computers, operating systems, and browsers are required, manually performing Cross Browser Testing can be expensive and time-consuming.

  • Automated Method-

The same set of test cases is frequently executed on several web browsers as part of Cross-Browser Testing. Testing is a repeatable process, which makes it ideally suited for automation. Therefore, carrying out Cross Browser Testing using specialised automated methods is frequently more time and money-efficient.

Using automated Cross-Browser Testing solutions, testers may run test cases simultaneously on various browsers, saving a lot of time and effort. These tools can also deliver thorough reports and spot compatibility problems more quickly, accelerating bug eradication. Some of the websites are: 

How Do We Ensure Cross-Browser Application Testing for Compatibility?

Cross-Browser Testing involves a methodical process that spans a variety of browsers, versions, and systems in order to verify compatibility on different browsers. An instruction manual for performing efficient Cross-Browser testing is provided below:

  • Identify Target Browsers: Choose the web browsers you want to support and the versions of those browsers. Concentrate on the most widely used browsers, including Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. Think about browsers for both mobile and desktop.
  • Plan Test Scenarios: Plan test cases: Create a thorough set of test cases for your website or web application that covers all of the essential functionality and design components. These test cases ought to cover elements including design, operation, forms, user interactions, and navigation.
  • Choose Cross-Browser Testing Tools: Choose Cross-Browser Testing programs or services that provide you access to the platforms and browsers you've listed. Popular tools include LambdaTest, Sauce Labs, Cross-BrowserTesting, BrowserStack, and others.
  • Establishing Testing Environments: Set up testing environments for every target platform and browser. Some technologies provide cloud-based or virtual testing environments that are simple to set up and use.
  • Implement Test Cases: Using the selected testing tool, run your prepared test cases on all target browsers and platforms. Pay close attention to the following factors while testing:
    1. Make that the layout and design aspects of the website appear appropriately and consistently.
    2. Check that any interactive elements, including forms, buttons, and links, function as intended.
    3. JavaScript And CSS Compatibility: Look for any JavaScript or CSS-related problems that might occur in particular browsers.
    4. Performance: Evaluate how quickly and responsively the website responds in various browsers.
    5. Compatibility With Different Screen Sizes: Test how your website performs on various screen sizes and resolutions to ensure compatibility.
  • Document And Report Issues: Any compatibility difficulties should be documented with screenshots and thorough descriptions of the issues observed. Use a bug-tracking system or project management tool to report these problems.
  • Prioritize And Resolve Issues: Sort the reported problems according to their importance and seriousness. Work together with the developers to address and fix these problems. Make sure all target browsers are tested before applying fixes.
  • Testing For Regression: Regression testing should be done when changes or fixes are made to ensure that no new incompatibilities with previously supported browsers are brought about.
  • Cross-Browser Testing Automated: To speed up the testing process and run test scripts across several browsers simultaneously, use tools like Selenium, Puppeteer, or Playwright to implement automated Cross-Browser Testing.
  • Constant Improvement: To ensure that compatibility is verified automatically anytime there are code changes, incorporate Cross-Browser Testing into your continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) pipelines.
  • Testing On Real Devices: Consider testing on actual mobile devices in addition to browser-based testing if your website or application caters to mobile users. Simulators and emulators have their uses, but actual hardware yields more precise results.
  • Consumer Testing: Conduct user testing using a variety of people and web browsers. To find any compatibility problems from the viewpoint of the user, gather comments and ideas on their experiences.
  • Monitor Browser Updates: To prevent problems with the most recent versions, keep a watch on browser updates and new releases.

With these comprehensive approaches to Cross-Browser Testing, you can ensure that your website or web application functions smoothly and consistently across a variety of browsers, enhancing the user experience and preventing compatibility-related problems.