The importance of cross-browser testing

Preamble

What is cross-browser testing?

Cross-browser testing is the process of figuring out if your web app or website can be used with different browsers, devices, and assistive technologies.

Because each browser interprets website code differently, it is the responsibility of developers to ensure that both the most recent and earlier versions of browsers can correctly understand the code. If you test this process and understand how it works, you can find browser-specific compatibility problems and fix them quickly.

Even if you’ve created an application that runs smoothly on your preferred browser, testing is still necessary to guarantee user success. Testing across browsers is part of this.

A cross-browser testing use case

Consider that you recently created a new website for your company. On your preferred browser, it appeared and operated flawlessly, and you want to impress a potential customer. But the website is a complete mess when you open it on your phone. Gifs don’t work, there are no pictures, and text is all over the place.

This is a result of failing to recognize compatibility issues unique to particular browsers. Through cross-browser testing, you can examine how the website will work and look on:

• combinations of different browsers and operating systems
• various types of devices
• when employing assistive devices

Cross-browser testing allows you to confirm that your application will continue to function properly across all browsers and devices without sacrificing quality.

Cross-browser testing’s necessity

If your website has lengthy page loads or other errors, users will leave it immediately. Numerous tools, such as focus groups, surveys, and A/B testing, help you ensure the quality of your website, but they can’t give you ongoing, real-time information about how users are actually using it.

For instance, you might receive feedback that users click a button or respond to a call to action when copy is changed from option A to option B, or you might hear in a survey that a client had to wait too long for a catalog item photo to load. However, if you don’t test on all browsers, you won’t know the specifics of errors that users encounter while completing tasks or when particular pages or page elements are loading.

Why do cross-browser issues occur?

The functionalities of browsers change over time. While some browsers may support a range of capabilities, others may not. Also, one reason why there are problems between browsers is that each browser reads components differently.

Most common cross-browser issues and how to fix them

The four most typical cross-browser problems you might run into are DOCTYPE errors, JavaScript errors, CSS resetting errors, and HTML/CSS validation errors.

Manual vs. automated cross-browser testing

When it comes to browser testing, there are two different types: manual and automated. To run test scenarios manually, a tester must click their way through the website or application. With automated testing, this assists in identifying issues that might be missed.

You use scripts to run the tests automatically when using automated testing. The scripts are limited in what they can test because they are pre-written scenarios.

Each approach has advantages and disadvantages.

Manual testing is more affordable and gives the user more control. The amount of human effort required, however, might not be worthwhile depending on the size of the project. It might be a laborious and drawn-out process.

Testing that is automated is more accurate and precise. There are many tools available to help with testing, and it is much quicker than manual testing. However, the cost may vary depending on the scope of your project. The investment might not be worthwhile.

The benefits of switching to automated testing

Automated testing is typically the most effective method of testing. You should be able to accomplish more tasks with automation during each sprint. Costs usually go up at first, but once your company has fully adopted test automation, you should have more time to focus on other parts of the infrastructure.

How to perform cross-browser testing

1. Establish a baseline.

Perform all design and functionality tests on your primary browser before starting cross-browser testing. This will give you an idea of how the website was intended to look and operate at first.

2. Develop a plan.

You’ll need to come up with a plan for cross-browser testing that fits with your product goals. Establish what needs testing and where that testing should take place. The list can then include environments, live test optimization methods, coverage, and other components.

3. Take into account how to carry out your cross-browser testing.

You’ll need to think about how to conduct your cross-browser testing depending on the approach you take for your project, manual or automated testing. In the end, reliability, cost, and time matter.

Manual testing requires human testers who test cases sequentially. This is a slower process, and it also costs more if the testing load becomes bigger than the testing load needed to complement and keep up with the automated tests. There is a repeatability problem with human testing as well. People aren’t the best at consistently performing complex tasks in the same manner. One test script can run a test scenario across multiple browsers during automated testing. And with automated testing, you know that the machine will always do the same steps that can be checked and repeated.

4. Select the environment in which to conduct the tests.

Solutions for cross-browser monitoring

An all-encompassing solution for real user monitoring and browser monitoring will help you quickly identify and fix errors, keep your web application’s users satisfied, and address all potential cross-browser issues.

Monitoring actual users

Real user monitoring, or RUM, is a way to find and keep track of problems with the user experience. RUM measures and tracks the end-user experience, keeping track of things like how long it takes for AJAX and HTTP requests to complete, how long it takes for web page elements to load, and whether or not there are any errors on the page.

One way to identify latency within your web app or website—and its effects on browsers—is by using a real user monitoring (RUM) solution.

Takeaways

We discussed the following cross-browser testing advice:

• Determine which platforms and browsers you need to test on, taking into account your target market and the popularity of each with your customers.
• Choose between using manual and automated tests.
• Prepare your simulator, emulator, or actual device to test the infrastructure in a way that will give you the most information about your project.

By using cross-browser testing, you can be sure that your website or web app will work on both old and new browsers.

About Enteros

​​​​Enteros offers a patented database performance management SaaS platform. It finds the root causes of complex database scalability and performance problems that affect business across a growing number of cloud, RDBMS, NoSQL, and machine learning database platforms.