A responsible website development practice compels you to reconsider the security of your website as you fabricate it. Website testing is a crucial constituent of the development cycle where multiple elements determine the website’s proper functioning. The developers need to ensure the appropriate functioning of the applications on the site. They have to work on different interfaces and web browsers. The developers also have to look for any errors or glitches which may restrict their performance. Integration with other apps and security testing are also involved in the development process. However, some challenges may come up during the testing course. This article will unfold some of the challenges faced in testing web applications.
Website testing is an operation to check the performance, functionality, and website reliability. There are multiple steps for web app testing. It includes the following:
- Assessing responsiveness on different operating systems, devices, and web browsers.
- Assuring proper security so that there are no scopes of vulnerability through which hackers can gain access.
- Conforming to industry standards and regulatory norms.
- Integration with different web services.
- Usability testing to decide how smoothly the site runs. One vital area to check is the navigation for a gallant user experience.
- Interface testing for determining how fluently the software communicates with each other.
In the contemporary milieu, developers are facing numerous new challenges. The websites have evolved much and designing courses have become more complex. For example, search engine optimization is currently a primary requisite for web designing. There is an embodiment of technologies for better functionality. Platforms like e-commerce need features that result in improved visibility. Developers and QA teams have to keep pace with such changes. They must also address every need to achieve a good user experience.
There are multiple benefits of website testing. One of the most significant is to boost the confidence in your enterprise or brand. A good user experience also directs higher traffic to your website. For e-commerce platforms, it means additional interactions, research, and lead generation.
Challenges in web-based testing
1. Cross-Browser Compatibility
Earlier, internet explorer was the only web browser available. Only unit testing would have served the purpose. But, presently, with numerous web browsers and their various versions available for mobile and computer, cross-browser compatibility is a ubiquitous issue. An ideal solution is to use a cloud-based testing platform for cross-browser testing.
2. Responsiveness
One aspect to check while web testing is whether the application fits correctly in the device resolution. A tester must confirm any issues regarding horizontal alignment, scrolling or padding, and buttons and font sizes in different devices.
It is of utmost significance that the images in the application are responsive to different resolutions. For this, a developer-friendly web browser must be used for debugging on which you can see the mobile view of your website on iOS and Android resolutions.
3. Cross-Device Compatibility
Currently, people substantially use mobile to access sites. A cross-device compatibility test is a must to make content that reaches everyone. It is eventful for a tester to target the devices where their application is specifically meant to run and begin testing each one.
4. Integration Testing
The usability, as well as the functionality of an application, primarily determines its rank or rating. Website integration testing is a must to carry out to ensure the application meets all the crucial functionalities and there is no revealing impact on performance after blending new features.
5. Security
QA teams should conduct frequent tests to assure that there are no chances of any fraudulent exercise. Also, there is no possibility of creating a domestic repository of compensation-related data should be ensured if the application features payment gateways or online transactions.
6. Performance Testing
A web application often gets excessively slow or crashes as internet traffic increases suddenly. Testers should execute performance testing to accomplish zero impact on the speed of carrying out an activity using the application.
7. Application Getting Slow
A web application may not function as desired due to lower configuration or poor network coverage. Testing should be executed to assure that it is duly optimized for running suitably under any condition.
8. Usability Testing
Dynamic and interactive web applications are invariably popular among users. Complete unit testing should be conducted across devices from the user’s perspective. It ensures that no issues might impact the web application’s usability.
9. Entry and Exit Points
There are some phases when a user has to redirect from the application to a third-party site. Otherwise, they might redirect from another gateway to the application. It is a genuine challenge to test if this component works duly.
10. Checking the Standards and Compliance
W3C has formulated several guidelines and standards to which every web application must conform. QA testers should test the code congruously to check whether the website follows those norms and means to get a befitting site rank in the search engine index.
11. Firewalls
Often an application on a website is blocked by sure firewalls. It may be due to the security issues of the device. QA teams must test accordingly to ensure the application behaves suitably across all firewalls.
12. Accessibility Testing
W3C has laid down several guidelines stated in Section 508 and WCAG. It says a website must be accessible to all people, specifical people with disabilities. Testing should ensure that users with sight or hearing disabilities can access the website using a screen-reader or other devices.
13. Project Deadline
Often web app testing is not conducted duly when a project is coming close to the deadline. Teams should look at time management to leave decent time for testing the web app’s performance, usability, and functionality before it is installed in the product.
14. User Experience
A user prefers an application based on its functionality and how smoothly it can be used. QA teams must check the entire user experience and application design to ensure user attraction and engagement while using it.
15. Web Service Requests
All current web implementations are integrated with web service layers like JSON, SOAP, or XML. These web services send requests containing some parameter values that require testing. This test is essential if your web application is integrated with Google Map API.
16. User Input Validation
It is a crucial part that is skipped frequently while testing. The website sometimes features some forms to be filled up by users. Testing must ensure proper validation rules are in place for incorrect input. Also, wrong inputs should trigger warning messages, and further advancing with the form submission must be blocked until the information is rectified.
Some possible solutions to these challenges
1. Interoperability or Compatibility Testing
Earlier, website designers had to only compete with Internet Explorer. But today, there are multifold other web browsers that users access. Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and Opera are a few.
Every website has distinct characteristics which encompass security, optimization, and usability. QA teams also have to consider a range of mobile devices and desktop computers. Cross-browser compatibility testing is a field that requires utmost attention. Some tools such as Selenium, Appium, and HeadSpin can help with cross browser compatibility testing.
2. Performance Testing
Performance testing ensures speed which is one of the top demands of the current internet users.
Much content is available on online platforms. Hence nobody has time to hold on to slowly loading pages. Nevertheless, developers still face issues with Performance testing. Minimal or low configuration hardware cannot handle the demands of sizeable web-based application testing issues.
There may also be an inappropriate estimation of software requisites. The QA testing teams should ensure that the devices used for testing can maneuver large volumes of data. It is also helpful if the hardware requires the least support to run.
3. Usability Testing
Usability testing encompasses a wide range of outcomes. It allows the testing team to correspond to factors like interactivity and scalability. It should also ensure that any app changes do not intrude on the system.
The QA teams have to develop a framework or procedures to address everyone. It demands in-depth knowledge of the ambit to come up with results. The UX must be coherent, considering that every user is different. An effective way is that teams can use representative groups for testing. It should be across different types of OS, web browsers, and hardware.
4. Skill Level Requirements
The developers and testers must possess specific skill levels to take the edge of automated web testing. They must be capable of perceiving what could have chipped in to a crashed test. Further, if they do not get the expected conclusions, they must pinpoint the explanations behind them. The arguments could be browser or device incompatibility or bugs and glitches in website requirements. Also, the team must unfold a course of action to rectify the issues. Skill level requirements are, thus, a critical factor for developers and QAs.
5. Challenges Arising From Insufficient Bandwidth
The bandwidth determines the network speed. The absence of enough bandwidth can hamper performance testing. Teams shall witness lags while downloading something from the website, which could pan out in breaches while the testing process is conducted.
Before conducting any web-based application testing, it should be ensured that there is enough bandwidth. Something as simple as adding a directory can impact the processes. Keeping up with such website fluctuations is critical. If the QA squads do not consider this, they will face gruesome issues.
6. Ensuring continual testing
Administering a befitting testing process only during the development cycle is not enough. Even after the web application launch, continual monitoring and testing are of utmost importance. You may hold a high-performing website presently. But, an alteration in the ecosystem in the future can create a mess. Some issues that play a crucial purpose are as follows:
i. Contemporizing plugins and third-party integration
ii. Troubleshooting issues by users
iii A modification in the browsing customs of users
iv. Hacking endeavors by cybercriminals.
Testers must stay up to date with such issues and continue the testing process for the entire lifetime of the application.
7. The Issue of Security
Cybercriminals are always looking for areas of susceptibility to take advantage of. It is, therefore, captious to keep up with the security testing for the web-based application. Data integrity testing helps in guarding the data against any loss.
Platforms that collect lots of client information need to keep them safe. Dedicated penetration testing is the perfect solution to this. It simulates attack-like situations to distinguish any areas of susceptibility.
The testers also look for technical design glitches and shortcomings. They ensure that the teams adhere to regulatory conditions.
8. Short Development Cycles
Budgets and time can affect the number of hours developers spend on the web-based application or site development. They have to work within a specific period, so they may not provide enough time for critical operations.
The hustle to develop, test and deploy can cause serious violations. All these will influence the usability and functionality of the website. The development and QA teams must give enough time to the procedures. Prioritizing the test cases can allow for the completion of more crucial tasks.
9. Team coordination
Managing communication, planning, and collaboration is a unique challenge. Team leaders hold this uphill task of persuading everyone together. Hence, laying down a decent set of proceedings is a must. Everyone must acknowledge their positions in the product development and testing cycle. It is also pivotal that all should have a say and be an active part of the operation.
Final thoughts
Software Testing is a perpetual procedure for checking the software product quality by equating the anticipated and the prevailing solution. Several web-based applications on the internet are considered deficient websites or applications because they are inefficiently tested products. Web app testing is a crucial phase in the development cycle of web applications to measure their quantitative and qualitative aspects.
The tester faces numerous web app testing challenges for making an error-free website, as demonstrated in this article. The quality assurance of web operations is a tough job as multiple challenges affect their quality.
2022-08-30 15:06:38