Why is cross browser testing important?

With the increasing number of access devices and an aspiration for achieving a uniform functional support, several functionalities are becoming obsolete while several advanced functionalities are made to be supported by browsers through their multiple version upgrades. This leads to a distorted performance of the same application through different browsers. A customer coming across a distorted view of an application, immediately loses faith in the application and moves on to other application providing similar functionalities. 

As per the Statistics courtesy of W3Schools, the browser usage share can be predicted as follows:

Internet Explorer (6, 7, 8): 30.4%

 

Firefox: 46.4%

 

Chrome: 16.7%

Safari: 3.4%

Opera 2.3%

However, there is no definite way to determine the combination of browsers that may be used to access an application. So, the only way out to ensure a seamless user experience of an application or website is its extensive cross browser and cross platform testing before launch.

Cross browser testing is performed to achieve the following

-      Ensure the uniform display of a page across different browsers

-      Find inconsistencies and fix it.

-      Enhance user experience and efficiency.

-      Be aware of any future failures.

-      Test authenticated access to private pages.

-      Test local, private network and firewall pages.

-      Increase lead conversion

-      Flatter your quality and persistence to your prospects.

Main decision for cross browser testing

-      Site Analytics can help to determine the main browsers to test on.

-      A detailed analysis is required to be done to determine which parts of the system needs to be tested extensively. The best approach is to perform a complete testing on one browser and test the most critical functionalities on the others.

-      Once the above two decisions are made, infrastructure decisions are then required to be made considering costs, risks, security issues, resources required and debugging schedules.

-      Initiate test cycle.

-      Report test results, make changes, if at all required, then retest.

The most common way to start cross browser testing is by listing the functions of the particular website and then methodically open up the site in different browsers to verify and validate the outcomes. The variations in version of the browsers make it important to ensure that all the pages are rendered as designed. 

Cross BrowserTesting can be performed either manually on multiple systems, multiple Operating systems, multiple web browsers, multiple configurations, multiple days, multiple investments and further multiple challenges. Or it can be performed through different testing tools available in the market. Some of the tools can be used free of cost, while some are paid.

Conclusion

As mentioned earlier, browsers are being constantly upgraded and new versions are continuously released. This necessitates keeping track of the upgrades introduced. Many firms neglect this phase because of lack of funds and knowledge. Being persistent and being strategic in this case will save time and money. Cross Browser Testing is now one of the most important aspect of a software development lifecycle which ensures the best experience for the users.