Effective tips for Cross-browser Testing Strategy

The availability of browsers accessible and being utilized today are almost endless. This ensures that all websites and applications are compatible with browsers of different kinds. Though the viability and extent of testing performed on multitudinous browsers could vary, analyzing the site on various browsers may not be avoided. So Cross-browser testing is undertaken to make sure the application would work seamlessly across all different kinds of browsers.

Cross-browser testing has become a pre-requisite and is considered to be part of the QA cycle. It is a significant testing step and there are tremendous tools available that assist developers in testing. This article delivers some quick effective tips on how to generate a Cross-browser testing strategy which is discussed in detail.

Who are the target users?

Although, people are aware of the limitless number of accessible devices or browsers being utilized by masses throughout the world, scheduling to run Cross-browser tests on every browser and version can be neither practical nor feasible. So knowing your target audience becomes an indispensable aspect for the planning of Cross-browser testing. Browser preferences would vary from person to person, however, for QA purposes, a decision should be taken to categorize the most ordinary utilized devices or browsers for that area.

Irrespective of the browser and device utilized, the eventual goal should be for the application to render accurately on all well-liked browsers. According to research, an e-commerce website running in the US may have a larger number of consumers using Safari and macOS, however, few countries still have their primary consumer base utilizing Chrome and Windows. The list of the most recurrently used operating systems, browsers, and devices is typically shared with the project group during the requirement detection stage. Hence, the QA group requires to be aware of this list to appear up with a more inclusive Cross-Browser Test plan. If the information is unavailable, Google Analytics may utilize it to extract this data.

Know when to test and what to test

We frequently hear the statement “Begin QA as soon as possible”. This is because the bugs found at later phases may be expensive to fix. Even though this is accurate with functional testing, when it arrives in testing on several browsers, the testing should be performed when the system is constant, which means that almost 50% of the functional tests conceded.

Additionally, the QA of an unstable app on various devices or browsers can be overwhelming and would not offer usable outcomes, making it hard to recognize if problems happen due to functional bugs on the browser. Hence the aim should be to start by testing on the primary browser and when QA feels relaxed with the construction or release, plan to expand testing to other devices and browsers. So this will help with separating browsers regarding errors and requiring less endeavor.

Understand what to test

Operating all tests on planned devices or browsers is always the objective, however, it is not ever successful as groups are hindered by money or time limitations. In such conditions, the scope for Cross-browser testing would be required to be readdressed. To do so, it is necessary to identify crucial areas that would have a great influence when viewed on unlike browsers. Here are some of the huge influences of Cross Browser-related elements to conclude.

Arrangement of checkboxes, error messages, and buttons: Misaligned checkboxes, overlapping buttons, and the incomplete display of words point out to some of the known browser regarded bugs.
Rendering of Images and Videos: Sometimes users see the error messages like ‘Unsupported file format’ or problems such as ‘This file format is not supported in this browser version’. There can be chances that videos or images might load differently on different browsers. As a tester, make sure to verify that the app does not display any kind of unsupported issues.

Zoom in and out feature: The capability to zoom in and out any picture or message should work or respond effectively, irrespective of the browser. But, if this is not tested then it may lead to some user experience problems.

Dropdown menus and their ethics: The dropdown display varies from one browser to another, so conclude complete checks to extend and view all the information of all dropdown menus. Display of Modal/Popup boxes: One of the most popular bugs noted by all website projects is that modal is not displayed or the resolution given needs either clearing the cache, checking on a different browser, or restarting the browser or device. Therefore, we ensure the verifying display of modal is involved as a check in the testing schedule for Cross-browser testing.
Display of fonts: How the fonts are restored depends more on the browser. Sometimes websites utilize the latest new fonts which are not supported by many browsers, hence it is important to check that the browser displays all messages properly.

Some strategies to be followed whilst performing efficient Cross-browser testing

Select the environments or contrast

The testing group has greater accountability for the activities of Cross-browser testing. They execute similar test cases on different browsers and platform combinations to ensure that the functionality is not broken down. Also, they check the application’s compatibility across different browsers. In case of incongruities, the QA group increases defects, or the developmental group makes the fixes.

Device:

Testers are required to check on which platform our consumers would be accessing the application laptop, mobile, PC, smart TV, and tablet.

Browser:

Moreover, it is also required to decide on which browser to carry out the Cross-browser testing. It is good to choose the most efficient ones by using the analytics which the audience frequently use. For instance Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Edge, UC Browser, Opera, Internet Explorer, etc.

Moving further, testers may not test an application on probably a combination of OS, platforms, and browsers. However, if they use a tool that enables them to test on then we may fulfil the work in a shorter period.

Operating system:

They are required to understand what OS their customers would typically use from Android, Windows, macOS, iOS, etc.

Receiving the accurate combination
The main aim of Cross-browser testing is to test the appropriate working of web applications on different operating systems or browsers. With the latest version of operating systems and browsers releasing almost every month, the likely combinations keep developing and hence raising the efforts or period needed for testing.

In such cases, the greatest strategy for users is to consider the most popular and recent versions. As per W3C, 98% of internet users use various browsers like IE, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari.

Demarcate a checklist

Arranging a checklist may assist people to execute their tests in an ordered way securing them on efforts as well as time. So it aids in setting the scope for the Cross-browser testing. Besides, it also helps them to stimulate the time needed for the testing and may assure them that they do not miss out on any operating system and browser.

The checklist may involve the below-provided tabs:

• Devices and Operating systems
• Browsers and their version
• Combinations of devices, browsers, and operating systems
• Animation and Design Authentications to be checked
• Purposeful Authentications to be checked
• Contented Authentications

Mobile devices

The web world has moved out now from your laptops or desktops and has stretched its wings to the mobiles. With a various number of platforms accessible to access the websites, it becomes most significant that your website design is approachable or responsive. The websites must be accessible easily on tablets, mobile, and PC for being available to a great section of individuals. However, with multiple devices available, it is hard to test them on every device.

Thus, the best strategy in such a scenario is to utilize tools to motivate the environment of the different devices rather than testing them manually on each device. Other another effective strategy might be to use Google Analytics or any other tools and find out the most prominent used device or to take out the testing in those particular devices.

Decide on simulators/emulators and devices

People must have a clear understanding of what simulators, emulators, and original devices will be required for Cross-browser testing. So accordingly, they may select the cross-browser automation tool. Moreover, Virtual and Emulator machines are specifically time securing and effective strategies for Cross-browser testing.

• Select the significant scenarios

It is judicious to select the most vital scenarios to test first, and after that, test the rest. Choose the test cases based on the business criticality of functionality or UI utilization.

Make a decision on Cross-browser testing Automation tools
The Cross-Browser Automation testing tools are essential for the following reasons:

• User needs access to a wide variety of environments for testing.
• For executing the large proportion of needed test cases, that across manual test scenarios is not possible. Thus, it gives various reports of test scenarios.
• For the parallel implementation of test cases while decreasing the entire testing time.
• A similar test case may operate multitudinous times just after altering the environment. It causes the reusability of test cases

Hence it is always best to carry out automation testing to time-saving and for best efficiency.

Conclusion

To conclude, Cross-browser testing is indispensable for upwards high-performance applications. While at the same time, it is a much more complex test suite as it has to deal with multitudinous combinations of devices, operating systems, and browsers. Proper planning, strategies, and regular testing makes the whole process faster, simpler, and qualitative.

In addition, it is recommending that with the LambdaTest tool, users can perform Cross-browser testing for web apps across more than 2000 operating systems, devices, and browsers. Consequently, it also supports the recent versions of operating systems like iOS, Android, and Windows and most used browsers like Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera. These are considered to be the most effective tips for cross-browser testing strategy.