Cross Browser Testing ensures the web application performs well on different browsers. This article explores the significance of it.
As the web development market becomes competitive, delivering a seamless user experience (UX) becomes crucial. Users use different browsers like Chrome, Safari, and Brave, and each has its own way of handling web apps.
What is Cross Browser Testing?
Cross browser testing is a crucial step in software development that tests how well a website renders on different browsers, Operating Systems (OS), devices, and viewports.
It ensures that the software or app can meet the needs and expectations of users, regardless of the browser they are using. By performing cross browser testing, developers can determine and fix any issues or inconsistencies that may appear on different platforms. This ensures that users have a seamless experience across all browsers and devices.
Why Is Cross Browser Testing Important?
Website owners should know that slow page times or other errors can lead to a high bounce rate. Users tend to leave the website in seconds when they encounter such issues.
Several tools are available to ensure the quality of a website. However, they may not provide real-time or ongoing insights into users’ experiences. For instance, user feedback may be received only when they respond to a call to action (CTA) or click a button after the website’s copy is changed from option A to option B.
Similarly, a customer may point out in a survey that they had to wait too long to load a certain thing. However, without testing on all browsers, website owners may not have access to detailed information about errors when users complete tasks, specific pages, or load times for page elements.
How Cross Browser Testing Works?
For simple websites and apps, teams can implement cross-browser testing by manually recording differences in functionality on various browsers or running test scripts on different ones.
Many firms, however, require automated cross-browser testing. This can help them meet their needs for scale and replicability. The process aims to expose errors in frontend functionality on specific web browsers before real users encounter them.
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Manual Cross Browser Testing:
Teams often face the challenge of performing cross browser testing on websites and apps. This can involve manually testing different web browsers for changes in functionality or executing test scripts on various ones. The precision required to achieve near 100% accuracy is beyond what one person can achieve manually.
Manual cross browser testing involves installing several browsers and OS on different desktops and other devices. Testers must then perform the same test cases in each chosen environment, which is time-consuming and exhausting.
The entire testing process can become quite lengthy. Moreover, manual testing in multiple environments is impractical. Therefore, they can use testing automation to complete the activities quickly and efficiently.
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Automated Cross-Browser Testing:
As discussed, manually testing every element and page can be tedious and time-consuming. Testers need to use tools that help them test their app on different web browsers. This way, they can ensure that their app works well on all the devices it supports.
These tools allow them to automate testing and complete cross browser testing quickly. They can use automation tools to ensure their website works seamlessly across all devices and platforms.
Also read: Development and Testing Environments: A Complete Overview
Key Metrics to Consider in Cross Browser Testing
Cross-browser testing teams can use metrics to assess various aspects of the UX. The specific metrics may change depending on how they implement cross browser testing and which platform they use.
For each workflow that they test, they can compare how these metrics perform across different browsers and devices:
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Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS):
This metric measures the content’s movement on a web page when certain elements, like videos or images, load later than the rest. These random movements can cause users to lose their place on a page or click the wrong button.
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Largest Contentful Paint (LCP):
This metric measures the time it takes for the largest element of a web page to load.
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Step Duration:
This metric measures the time it takes to execute a single action. This includes clicking a button within the larger workflow.
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Time to Interactive:
This metric measures the time it takes for all elements on a page to load fully.
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Duration:
This metric measures the time it takes to execute the entire user action or interaction on the web page.
The two metrics, LCP and CLS, along with a third usage metric called First Input Delay (FID), are commonly used to measure a website’s performance. These metrics are known as Core Web Vitals, and they are a Google-determined rating system that measures UX quality on a specific webpage.
They must install certain Application Programming Interface (APIs) to track these. It’s important to note that some of these APIs are only supported by Chromium browsers such as Chrome, Opera, Edge, and Samsung Internet. LCP and CLS, for example, cannot be measured on Safari, Firefox, or Internet Explorer.
When Should Cross Browser Testing Be Performed?
Developers and quality assurance (QA) teams perform cross browser testing at different stages of the development process.
Developers do it before publishing changes to the live website to catch any issues early on. On the other hand, QA teams do it on each pre-release version of the website. This ensures no compatibility issues with the latest web browsers.
How to Select Browsers for Testing?
The number of browser-OS combinations makes testing difficult. When optimizing a website, there are two ways to choose which browsers and platforms to focus on.
One way is to select the 10-20 most popular browsers and the top two platforms, such as Android and iOS. This approach increases reach in any target market, especially for consumer-facing websites.
Another way is to analyze the website’s traffic stats using Google Analytics or Kissmetrics. By breaking down the traffic by device and browser, it is possible to specify which browser-OS combinations are most commonly used by the target audience. Also, it helps to understand the devices on which they are generally viewed.
Based on these findings, one can select the browsers-OS combinations that are most popular with the end-users.
Wrap Up
Cross Browser testing is a crucial step in software development that ensures that web apps perform well on different browsers, Operating Systems (OS), devices, and viewports.
It is important to perform cross browser testing as it helps them identify and fix any issues that may cause bad experiences on different platforms. This helps ensure users have a smooth experience across all browser-OS combinations.
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Source: https://www.businessresearchinsights.com/market-reports/web-development-market-109039
