It is an important part of modern web development to ensure that your website works and looks across the multiple browsers out there. Users can have a very different experience when browsing, as browsers range from Chrome to Firefox to Safari to Edge, among many more. This variability in experience creates the reason cross-browser testing is an important practice to be followed so that the quality and consistency of the user experience are maintained.
In this article, we will go over some comprehensive ways to test websites on different browsers, check their compatibility and functionality, and how to overcome certain challenges.
Why Cross-Browser Testing Is Important
Web browsers interpret HTML, CSS, and JavaScript differently, so a site working perfectly in one can contain problems in another. The most common problems that may occur are:
- Rendering Differences: Browsers can render content, such as fonts, images, and layouts, in diverse ways, hence the element that can make things look inconsistent.
- Feature Support: Newer web technologies are not supported in older browsers, which may break functionality.
- Variability in the Execution of JavaScript: Browsers execute JavaScript differently- some browsers have bugs and give out commands in a different way.
Considering all these challenges, great testing across a wide set of browsers will enable you to catch any issues and fix them before the users are impacted by them, hence providing a seamless experience to your users in a more professional way.
Focus Your Browser Testing Based on User Data
The first step toward cross-browser testing is the identification of the browsers in major use by your target audience. In this regard, tools like Google Analytics may help in capturing data on which browser types your visitors are using. This data enables you to prioritize testing on the browsers that matter most to your users.
Focus on different platforms: One should not focus just on the browsers of the desktop system. Instead, a mobile browser, such as Chrome on Android or Safari on iOS, is also in the limelight. Users are accessing your website on a huge range of devices, and cross-browser compatibility across different platforms is the ultimate key to success.
Choose Browser Versions: It is merely insufficient to guarantee that only tests on the latest versions of browsers are executed. The older versions do remain, and it is very significant to test whether your website functions on them as well. For example, test on older versions of IE, as some corporate users cannot get away from them.
Use Automated Cross-Browser Testing Tools
Manual cross-browser testing generally tends to be very time-consuming and labor-intensive, given the number of browsers, platforms, and versions in existence. One should therefore make use of automation software while performing this test, which can be used to perform tests across multiple browsers all at once.
Katalon, TestRigor, and Selenium have always been among the popular tools that help in the automation of cross-browser testing. While both Katalon and TestRigor offer strong automation capabilities along with support for real devices, Selenium has always been majorly used for browser automation. However, you can always use cloud testing platforms like LambdaTest to scale your testing across various browsers. LambdaTest is an AI-powered test orchestration and execution platform that allows you to perform Selenium testing at scale over 3000+ environments.
Depending on the chosen automated testing tool, create test scripts that simulate how a real user would interact with your website, which can be through clicking buttons, filling out forms, or traversing across pages. Execute these test scripts on different browsers to observe any anomalies or issues that arise.
Manual Testing to Validate In-depth
While automated testing can work through a great number of tests with high efficiency, the importance of manual testing can be vital in pinpointing more subtle problems. For example, manual testing will result in the detection of visual inconsistencies, interactive elements that don’t act according to anticipation, or usability issues that could pass automated tests.
While manually testing your website in different browsers, try to replicate real-life scenarios. For example, take into consideration how users would react on your site on slower internet connections or how it would behave when users have opened several tabs in the browser.
Most modern browsers have integrated developer tools; you can inspect elements, look into console errors, and debug directly inside the browser. Activate these while performing a manual test.
Responsive Design and Performance Testing
Responsively designed, your website will look and feel great, no matter the many screen sizes and orientations. Test your website on a variety of devices and screen sizes to make sure elements such as images, text, and buttons resize and reposition themselves correctly.
Most testing tools allow this, but browsers like Chrome DevTools let you emulate devices and viewports without needing to test natively on every screen size.
Performance has become a key component of any user experience. In different browsers, the performance on mobile devices may be very different. You can use various tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to find performance bottlenecks for your website on different browsers.
Browser-Specific Issues
As you go on testing, you probably face browser-specific issues in the form of problems in CSS rendering, incompatibility of JavaScript, and HTML5/CSS3 compatibility issues.
Consider browser-specific fixes to get rid of these issues. For instance, using browser-specific CSS rules when some browsers render things a little differently or polyfills that make sure that HTML5 features work in older versions of browsers.
Testing strategies must continually change with new browsers and their versions. Always keep your cross-browser testing process updated with changing browser market shares, new features, and emerging compatibility issues.
Test for Accessibility
During cross-browser testing, make sure that your website provides ground for accessibility according to standards like WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) to ensure equal capacity for all users.
Leverage tools like Axe or Lighthouse available in Chrome DevTools that help you identify problems in your site’s accessibility. These tools do some low-contrast checks, missing alt text checks, and incorrect use of ARIA roles.
Manually test your website with a screen reader and use keyboard navigation to ensure the website works well for disabled users. Test that all interactive elements are accessible via keyboard; screen readers will read correctly and be able to navigate inside the content.
Do Regression Testing After Updates
With any update to your website, whether adding new features, bug fixes, or making changes in design, there is the likelihood that such changes tend to reveal newer bugs or an inability of the working functionality. Regression testing will make sure that after the updates, your site keeps on working as expected in all browsers.
It’s very advantageous to save time by automating regression tests, and ensuring the comprehensive testing of all critical functionality after every update. Apply such tools as Katalon, TestRigot, or Selenium for automated regression testing in different browsers.
Other than running automated regression tests, the critical features and user flows should also be tested manually because sometimes there can be issues that your automated tests fail to catch. Pay extra attention to areas of your site that are most crucial to your users. Examples include checkout processes, forms, and navigation.
Engage Real Users in Testing
Benefits include developing automated and manual testing by developers and testers, but it’s real user testing that will, most importantly, reveal just how your site functions in the real world. Users may find bugs that hadn’t been picked up through any testing; they may also provide more general feedback on user experience.
You may want to consider running a beta version of your site where a limited number of users can provide feedback regarding the performance of your site on different browsers. Gather their feedback and improve before unleashing it on a wide scale.
Even when your site is live, you would want to monitor user behavior on different browsers so any issues users are facing can be spotted. Using tools like Google Analytics and Hotjar can show you how people have interacted with the site and where they could have been facing an issue.
Conclusion
Cross-browser testing is not something you do once and forget; it is one of those things that is updated and changed quite regularly. That is something you will have to stay ahead of with proactive testing, as browsers change and new ones come along. By following the strategies described in this article, your website will surely be in a position to extend the same quality experience for all users irrespective of their browser choice.
The ways of staying ahead will be by continually updating the testing tools, using knowledge about browser changes, and involving actual users in your test process. Finally, having a comprehensive and well-implemented cross-browser testing strategy is going to enable you to deliver a reliable and professional website that serves diverse user needs.
