Cross Browser Testing: Definition and Techniques

Think of a website arsenic a look for your homemade cocoa spot cookies. Cross browser testing is for illustration trying retired the look successful respective kitchens pinch different appliances and ingredients.

It makes judge the cooky look tastes accordant and awesome whether it’s baked successful the Chrome, Firefox, aliases Safari kitchen.

It's an important portion of value assurance erstwhile dealing pinch websites and apps, and this guideline will springiness you an overview.

To thief pinch penning of this piece, I interviewed Dmitriy Borisov, 1 of the QA Engineers present astatine Semrush.

Why is Cross Browser Testing Needed?

When you’re making cocoa spot cookies, different ovens aliases cooky trays tin get hotter and navigator faster aliases slower than others. 

Like appliances, different browsers person their unsocial rendering engines and features. These unsocial features tin origin inconsistencies successful the measurement your website appears and functions. 

For example, a webpage that loads perfectly connected 1 browser could return longer to load aliases look incomplete connected another.

Factors that could lead to an app aliases tract rendering otherwise include:

• Different browsers (Chrome, Edge, Safari)
• Different versions of the aforesaid browser 
• Operating systems* (MacOS, Android)
• Device types (smartphones, tablets, and laptops pinch different surface sizes)
• Network conditions (varying levels of web velocity aliases reliability)

* Testing crossed different operating systems tin besides beryllium referred to arsenic cross-platform testing.

Cross browser testing is an important portion of the value assurance successful our team. Our users utilization different browsers, truthful we request to guarantee an adjacent value level sloppy of user’s preferences. The statistic of our work usage helps america to shape the scope of browsers for the testing.

Dmitriy Borisov, QA Engineer astatine Semrush

Cross Browser Testing Definition

Typically performed by QA engineers, transverse browser testing is the believe of evaluating a website aliases app’s functionality and compatibility crossed aggregate web browsers. 

This trial ensures a accordant and seamless personification experience, identifying and addressing imaginable issues that whitethorn originate owed to browser variations.

Once you’ve tally a transverse browser test, you’ll cognize if you request to make immoderate developmental changes to make judge your tract runs smoothly everywhere. 

How to Perform Cross Browser Testing

To execute transverse browser testing, you should first place your goals. Common goals of transverse browser testing whitethorn include:

• Validating that the strategy being tested meets expectations
• Identifying issues pinch circumstantial browsers
• Replicating and validating immoderate issue
• Testing imaginable fixes to the issue

In bid to validate issues and trial imaginable fixes, you’ll request to group up your testing environment.

There are various devices and techniques you tin usage to execute transverse browser testing, including manual testing, ocular testing, and automated testing. 

Setting Up a Cross Browser Testing Environment

A cross-browser testing situation is the level wherever improvement teams measure the capacity and functionality of a website aliases app crossed various browsers. 

This is your controlled abstraction designed to replicate real-world conditions, allowing for broad testing and ensuring compatibility pinch various browsers.

This situation tin beryllium group up manually, but pinch the thief of tools, you tin get this done faster and astatine scale.

There are respective cross browser testing tools and platforms disposable to try. Some we tin urge include:

• Website Testing (in the Semrush App Center)
• Mobile App Tester (in the Semrush App Center)
• BrowserStack
• Playwright
• Selenium
• CrossBrowserTesting
• LambdaTest

Each instrumentality has its ain advantages and disadvantages. You request to take the 1 that fits your requirements and budget.

Configuring Test Platforms

Once you’ve chosen your tool, you’ll request to configure your trial platforms. Test platforms are the operation of browser and operating strategy that you want to trial your website aliases exertion on.

You should take the trial platforms based connected the devices and browsers that your target assemblage is using. 

For example, if your target assemblage is utilizing Windows, you should trial really your tract appears connected browsers for illustration Microsoft Edge and Chrome connected Windows operating systems.

With the Website Testing App, you tin take from immoderate of these environments to trial your URL:

What you tin do present is prime each of the versions of browsers and operating systems that are important to your test. Then, simply deed the “Start Browser” fastener to trial the URL connected each browser.

Test Execution and Reporting

Running Tests Across Different Browsers

Once you’ve defined your trial objectives and created trial cases, it's clip to tally tests crossed different browsers and mobile devices. Use a cross-browser testing instrumentality to automate the process and prevention time. 

While you whitethorn want to trial your tract connected the astir celebrated browsers successful the world, it's important to trial your website aliases web exertion connected the browsers that your intended assemblage is on. 

If astir of your users are connected Google Chrome, you should trial connected versions of Chrome. It whitethorn beryllium tempting to spot really good your tract aliases app holds up connected older browsers, but it’s not ever necessary. Maybe astir of your users are connected Edge. In that case, testing connected Edge would beryllium much important. 

Testing the astir celebrated browsers is ok, but it's amended to analyse your existent assemblage and prioritize the measurement of trial cases and trial runs by this info.
Sometimes there's nary logic to [test aged browsers] if location is nary assemblage utilizing those aged versions. Also, it tin beryllium costly to support the aged browsers for development.

Dmitriy Borisov, QA Engineer astatine Semrush

Analyzing Test Results

After moving tests, it's clip to analyse the results. Some cross-browser testing devices make elaborate reports and screenshots that show whether your website aliases web exertion appeared correctly. These reports tin thief you place issues and bugs that request to beryllium fixed.

For example, here’s what the Website Testing app shows erstwhile moving a ocular testing situation for respective browsers:

As you tin spot successful the image above, the webpage loads a small otherwise connected each browser. You tin unfastened up immoderate screenshot present to return a person look while ocular testing. 

When analyzing trial results, salary attraction to the following:

• Browser-specific issues: Look for issues that hap connected circumstantial browsers and versions. These issues whitethorn beryllium related to browser compatibility aliases functionality.
• Functional issues: Look for issues related to the functionality of your website aliases web application. These issues whitethorn beryllium related to personification interface, navigation, aliases shape submission.
• Performance issues: Look for issues related to the capacity of your website aliases web application. These issues whitethorn beryllium related to page load clip aliases responsiveness.

Once you person identified issues, prioritize them based connected severity and impact. Fix captious issues first and past move connected to little terrible issues. Keep way of the issues you person fixed and re-run tests to guarantee they person been resolved.

In conclusion, moving tests crossed different browsers and analyzing trial results are basal steps successful cross-browser testing. Analyze trial results to place and prioritize issues that request to beryllium fixed.

Challenges and Best Practices

Common Issues successful Cross Browser Testing

Cross browser testing is an basal portion of web development. However, it tin beryllium a challenging task owed to the immense number of browsers and devices that beryllium successful the market. Here are immoderate communal issues that you whitethorn look while performing transverse browser testing:

• Browser compatibility issues: Different browsers person different rendering engines, which whitethorn origin variations successful the quality and functionality of a website. For example, a website that useful perfectly good connected Google Chrome whitethorn not activity connected Mozilla Firefox aliases Microsoft Edge.
• Device compatibility issues: Websites request to beryllium tested connected various devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobile phones. Each instrumentality has its surface size, resolution, and hardware specifications, which whitethorn impact the website's performance.
• Automation challenges: Cross browser testing tin beryllium a time-consuming and tedious task, particularly if you person to trial manually. Automation devices tin thief you prevention clip and effort, but they whitethorn besides person their limitations.
• Geolocation issues: It’s important to trial circumstantial UI that’s only shown to users successful a definite geographic location, particularly since translated matter could overflow the UI aliases origin layout shifts.
• Accessibility issues: Accessibility features for illustration surface scholar / voiceover support, keyboard navigation, and due attraction indicators tin behave inconsistently crossed browsers, perchance creating barriers for users pinch disabilities. Testing for website accessibility ensures your tract meets standards for illustration WCAG and provides an inclusive acquisition for each users.

Adopting Best Practices

To flooded the challenges of transverse browser testing, you tin adopt the pursuing champion practices:

• Define a testing strategy: Before you commencement testing, specify a testing strategy that includes the browsers and devices you want to test, the testing approach, and the automation devices you will use.
• Use a testing grid: A testing grid allows you to trial your website connected aggregate browsers and devices simultaneously. It tin thief you prevention clip and effort and guarantee that your website useful correctly crossed different platforms.
• Perform manual testing: Although automation tin thief you prevention time, it's basal to execute manual testing to guarantee that your website useful correctly connected each browsers and devices. Manual testing tin thief you place issues that automation whitethorn miss.
• Update your testing situation regularly: Browsers and devices are continuously evolving, and caller versions are released frequently. To guarantee that your website useful correctly connected the latest browsers and devices, you request to update your testing situation regularly.
• Use testing tools: There are various testing devices disposable successful the marketplace that tin thief you trial your website's compatibility crossed different browsers and devices. These devices tin thief you prevention clip and effort and guarantee that your website useful correctly crossed different platforms.

By adopting these champion practices, you tin guarantee that your website useful correctly crossed different browsers and devices. 

Cross browser testing whitethorn look overwhelming astatine first, but pinch the correct strategy and tools, you tin make it a manageable and businesslike process. Check retired the Website Testing app successful our app halfway to get started.