Cross Browser Compatibility Testing Checklist: The Do’s and Dont’s

Browser compatibility testing checklist? Website testing checklist? Or website QA testing checklist? Although the names vary, what stays common is that the need and importance of this checklist will define your site’s veritable success.

All About Cross Browser Compatibility Testing Checklist You Need to Know:

There are some prerequisites for Cross Browser testing that you should review before beginning cross-browser testing.

• Define the scope of testing—how much testing will be done, when it will be done, and how much functionality will be covered?
• Create a plan for cross-browser testing – Which browsers (and versions thereof) will be used, as well as which operating systems and devices? What combinations will be tested?
• Select the appropriate tool- Choose the best automation cross-browser testing tool from the options offered. During the selection process, we may ask questions such as. Read here – Cross browser Testing Tools

Consider the cross-browser compatibility testing checklist into parts, which will help you execute testing in the best way forward:

• By Testing General Browser Compatibility
• Validating Layout and Design
• Ensuring the Functional Compatibility

Cross Browser Testing Checklist for General Browser Compatibility

This website Testing checklist tests the critical features for the website to work correctly. Some of the most important ones are listed below:

• Validate the CSS, HTML and XHTML. This will ensure that all code meets relevant standards and that there are no open tags.
• Validate the SSL certificate. Some SSL certificates are not compatible with all browser versions, so checking this before proceeding is essential. You also need to know who owns the website domain you’re using.
• Take care of visual elements; validate the fonts, fields, and design.
• To ensure that web pages are displayed correctly on various screens with different size ratios and resolutions, it is crucial to verify that they work effectively on multiple screens. Browsers may apply their default styles to your website by default. Chrome, for example, will add a default margin to your website – a minor but perceptible difference if you pick a darker background color.

To resolve this, you can use some code to reset the defaults, removing the mystery of why some styles differ in different browsers.

• It is also essential to verify the DOCTYPE instructions on every webpage. Define the language in which the code is written at the start of your HTML file(s) so that browsers can appropriately read it. This ensures that all browsers will parse the web pages similarly.
• Since API calls can differ between browsers, you must be cautious if your application uses APIs. It would be best to ensure that the APIs used are compatible across various browsers to avoid compatibility issues.
• Another essential thing to do is verify the HTML’s X-UA-Compatibility meta tag. This helps to overturn a user’s compatibility view setting in Internet Explorer for your website.
• Both points are crucial for ensuring that your website is accessible and secure for all users.

Read here – Website Testing

Cross Browser Compatibility Testing Checklist for Layout and Design:

The Layout and Design checklist is essential for ensuring that your webpage is visually pleasing and consistent across all browsers.

• Check that the layout, style, and design are consistent in all browsers used for Cross Browser Compatibility Testing.
• All images present should be in standard resolution.
• Check the correctness of Basic alignment settings on all browsers and operating systems used for Cross Browser Compatibility Testing.
• Make sure all fonts and designs are incorporated correctly and consistent in size, colors, etc., on all browsers used.
• Ensure that everything looks and functions correctly across all different browsers. This includes ensuring that all boxes and forms are aligned perfectly, that colors are uniform, and that headers and footers are consistent.
• Check the site’s responsiveness on different browsers and ensure that data is aligned correctly.
• Check browser compatibility for any audio or video formats you’re using.
• Ensure the source code doesn’t contain typos or other errors.
• Check that the zoom-in and zoom-out functions work correctly.
• Hover over elements with the mouse to ensure they can be selected correctly.
• Check that all drop-down menus show all the available options.
• Test the navigation between web pages to ensure it’s fast and accurate.
• Check that pop-up appear correctly and consistently on all browsers.
• Make sure that any tables or grids on the website are aligned correctly.

Taking these steps can help ensure that your website looks great and works well no matter what browser someone uses.

Cross Browser Compatibility Testing Checklist of Functional Compatibility:

Use the functional checklist below to ensure that all website functions work as expected in all browsers used for Cross Browser Compatibility Testing:

• Verify that all plugins integrated into the website are compatible with all browsers.
• When downloading and uploading, verify that the formats of files (text, images, videos, etc.) are compatible.
• Verify jQuery and AJAX functionalities.
• Ensure that search results are accurate, navigation links work correctly, and an error page appears when the website does not respond.
• Ensure all functions (e.g., saving data, importing and exporting, submission) are working correctly.
• Check that flash is working properly and that any animations function correctly across browsers.
• Ensure device interaction (keyboard, mouse) is uniform across different browsers.
• Ensure script validation across different browsers.
• Test the ability to handle different loads on different browsers.

How to Decide Which Browsers to Test on?

Making a decision on which browsers to test boils down primarily to two ideas: your user demographics and your testing capacity. 

Here is a simplified breakdown:

1. Who are your users?

Identify the browsers that your website visitors are already using. 

You need to identify your target audience: consider the people you want to reach. For a business audience, it is likely that they mostly use Chrome or Firefox. If your target users are iPhone owners, then testing on Safari is essential.

2. So how many browsers should you be testing?

Test on the popular browsers first such as Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge— these are among the most popular browsers used by people all over the world.

If you cannot test on all browsers: prioritize those most frequently used by the people you are targeting.

Do not forget about older browsers because some users might still use them. Although in general cases this number is quite small, decide if it is important to test on them based on your audience and available resources.

Here are a few examples:

For a news website with a worldwide audience, consider testing on Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge as these browsers collectively reach a significant user base.

When it comes to a business-oriented application, you may want to consider prioritizing Chrome and Firefox as they are widely recognized for their compatibility with office tasks.

How to Find the Right Balance While Choosing Browsers

Picking the right combination of browsers, devices, and operating systems to test on is vital to businesses. Hence, finding the right balance depends heavily on the financial resources the business can spare and its specific needs. Finding the right balance of testing minimum combinations is essential to ensure maximum usage and a positive user experience.

After deciding which browsers to test, selecting an appropriate automation tool is the next step. Testsigma can assist in this regard. To learn more, sign up for a free trial of Testsigma now.

With the above Cross-browser compatibility testing checklist, you can ensure that your website is at its best in the market and beyond. Testsigma is your go-to tool for performing cross-browser testing. Testsigma provides a platform to run manual and automated tests using different frameworks and languages. It is designed to be user-friendly so that everyone, including SMEs & QAs, can write automated tests using simple English. The platform provides access to 2000+ real desktops, and iOS & Android browsers for cross-browser tests online. In addition, it is highly scalable, so tests can be run in parallel on the cloud-based test lab.

Moreover, it can generate screen types for a wide range of devices, creating multiple possibilities to try different combinations to ensure the highest quality of your page. With the help of this platform, a tester can find bugs quickly and communicate with the team to address them. It also has a dashboard that displays the test status and progress. Hence, it is a good option for organizations looking for a simplified testing platform that supports cross-browser testing.

Conclusion

Cross Browser compatibility testing is essential to ensure your website functions correctly across different browsers, operating systems, and devices. The browser compatibility testing checklist can be used to ensure you don’t miss any critical details that could cause problems later on. By following this checklist, you can be sure that your website will work correctly for everyone.