Web Testing! What does one Expect from this Process?

September 1, 2016

Software testing for web applications is called Web testing. A net enabled or a web based application needs resolution of some basic issues before the system goes live. These can be the basic operability of the site, accessibility for a whole gamut of users and security amongst many others. As with any other software product, web based systems also need a thorough verification of their quality before they can be released for shipping. Here we discuss Web testing in detail, how it's done, the requisite tools involved, the challenges faced, and some tips to make Web testing a smooth ride.

Web Testing Types

Functional testing for web based systems:

They say the first impression is the last impression. Imagine then, at the time of going live you find to your horror, that you have missed out on checking the link for signing up into the website. Not even God can save you then. That's the level of importance attached here. Some of the other essential features which you can miss u to your own peril are:

Forms

These include Logging in/ Signing up, purchase forms ( where common in today's days of E-commerce), AJAX vulnerabilities and the like.

Links

The accuracy and the correct functionality of are Hyperlinks are verified.

Language

Covers the handling of foreign characters and support for Unicode.

Security

Last but by no means least, the reliability of the application to withstand virus attacks and also includes other vulnerabilities like the usual open redirects, tampering of cookies and SQL injections.

Non Functional testing for Web Based systems

These include a holistic analysis of a number of crucial factors namely:

Graphics

Include schemes for color, contrast, brightness, etc.

Intuitiveness

These include the functionalities commonly associated with E-commerce sites such as checking out, data entry and how accurate or helpful the search results are to a particular query.

Accessibility

It relates to how user friendly a web application is, to disabled users such as visually impaired.

Load testing

One of the deal breaking tests of the of web systems, it essentially evaluates the capability of a web application to how well it responds, when accessed by thousands of users simultaneously without suffering a crash.

Efficiency Across Different Platforms

The days of Internet Explorer being the monopolising Kingpin of web browsers are long gone with the advent of Mozilla Firefox, UC browser and Opera Mini. An important fact related to the working of these browsers is the use of compressed web pages to navigate through heavy net traffic. A well tested web application must be able to deliver across all platforms (desktop, mobile and ipad), browsers and even cloud based systems

6 Handy Tips To Meet The Future Trends In Web Testing Head On

Customer is King: While full throttle testing will eventually serve you a truck load of raw data, the most crucial bit of feedback will come from the client manager, or the perception of the unhappy customer.
Beware of the third party apps: It is important to have a complete understanding of the relevance of third party apps in your web application. RSS Feed, Live chat or Adobe Flash reader require in-built mechanisms to aid their glitch free working in the app.
Automated test tools aren't the Be all and end all of testing: While automated test tools are essential to any test team, it isn't wise to consider them the messiah against all bugs. No test tool can substitute for user perceived testing involving accessibility, intuitiveness, etc
Remember the old: It's common knowledge that Internet Explorer6 is on its way out. But curiously enough many large business organisations continue tugging on to it. Nevertheless support for old browsers is still critical especially in B2B cases.
Update, update and still Update!: Most of the security issues of today arise out of bugs from using old versions of adobe and flash. Testers need to continuously be on the lookout for glitches arising out of usage of old/new versions of pluggins and incorporating the possibility of fixing them via patches.
Look beyond Borders: Neither in house QA teams nor Outsourcing can give solutions which are not time and resource consuming, for location specific problems namely currency conversion or language translation. Here Crowd sourcing come to the rescue which enables you to hand pick from a global community of free lancing testers to sort out your Coverage matrix.