Cross Browser Compatibility Testing for Web Applications

Cross Browser Compatibility is one of the most influencing part of a website. A website should be compatible with the different configurations and settings of different browsers. It may not be feasible to test the website dimensions manually throughout all the different browsers. Therefore, we rely on automated testing tools which are extremely helpful in testing websites will all dimensions.  

Compatibility Issues:

The compatibility issues are as old as the browsers themselves are. The major issues can be listed as follows:

-          Multiple Browsers – Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari

-          Multiple Versions of Browsers – IE (Version 7,8,9,10), Firefox(7.0, 8.0) etc.

-          Multiple Computer Platforms- Windows, Mac, Linux etc.

-          Multiple Screen Sizes – From PC, IPAD, to Smart Phones

-          Font Sizes

-          HTML Errors

Goals:

As per the above issues, Compatibility testing  should be performed on the following aspects:

-          Browser Compatibility: Different browsers have different configurations. The website coding and layout should be compatible with as many browser platforms. Stress should be given on the JQuery and AJAX calls and their uniformity should be ensured through multiple browsers and their multiple versions.

-          The different technologies used in developing the different components of the website, such as graphic designs, Animations, API integrations, etc., may not be compatible with the different versions of the Operating Systems.  Hence the Web Application needs to be tested across the different operating systems – Windows, Mac, Linux etc.

-          The use of mobile internet has led to the emergence of version of mobile browsers. Hence the web application needs to be tested for its responsiveness on various devices and the accessibility of the interactive components should be ensured throughout all the mobile versions on different mobile platforms

Checklist for ensuring Cross Browser Compatibility of Websites or Web Applications:

-          HTML,  HTML5, CSS Validation.

-          Font Size Validation, Special Characters Support, Character Encoding

-          Page Layout in different resolution

-          Image, Text Display and Alignment

-          Page Styles

-          Date Format

-          Page Zoom in and Zoom out functionality.

-          Video Settings and its Screen resolution.

-          Design, layout and color display.

-          Java Script, JQuery, GUI Animations, Ajax validations and their successful functionality.

Manual Cross Browsertesting is a matter of time and money. Paid tools can be used for those browsers which have high browser dependent functionality. However, free tools also verify cross browser compatibility to a sufficient extent. The different tools for compatibility testing are as follows:

-          Spoon Browser SandBox- It allows to use all web browsers without installing them in the machine. 

-          Browser Shots: It can run compatibility testing with greater customization. The steps need to be repeated for every test. When many browsers are selected at a time, this tool takes a lot of time to display the results. 

-          IE NetRenderer:  This tool allows for testing across all versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer.

-          IE Tab: It is a good tool to test on Internet Explorer using Firefox or Chrome.

-          IE Tester: This tool allows testing the website on multiple versions Internet Explorer at the same time using only one application.

-          Microsoft SuperPreview: This tool allows testing and debugging layout issues across different IE browsers.

-          Browsera (Paid Tool): It is an automated testing tool used to test the website and its elements in multiple browsers. It can be used to test for layout and scripting errors.

-          Adobe Browser Lab(Paid Tool):Web Pages can be previewed across multiple versions of multiple web browsers. Full screen shots can be viewed with customizable test settings.

-          BrowserCam(Paid Tool): It allows to view web pages across different platforms and browsers. This can be done either by automatically taking the screen shots or navigating through them automatically. 

-          BrowserSeal(Paid Tool): It captures an image of the website under different browsers . The images can then be navigated through to spot layout and UI issues.

-          CrossBrowser Testing(Paid Tool): This tool requires the tester to log in, then select the browser and the operating system for testing the website. 

-          Cloud Testing(Paid Tool): This tool allows to check the website on real operating systems in the cloud.

-          Selenium: It is testing framework for web applications. It is an open source software where the tests can be written in a number of programming languages.

Conclusion:

With the change in technology, users have different browsers and platforms. Web Applications cannot be developed on only single configuration and expected to be working for all others. Hence, crossbrowser compatibility should be considered an indispensable criteria for Web Applications.