What is browser compatibility testing?

Browser compatibility testing is a form of web testing used to ensure that web applications work smoothly and appear consistently across different browsers on various devices, operating systems, and versions.

“Everybody who runs a Web site knows we’re not assured of compatibility, and we could end up with a split.” — Tim Berners-Lee

This quote from the World Wide Web’s inventor highlights the main problem that browser compatibility testing can address: Without proper testing, websites risk losing a huge portion of their audience.

With popular browsers competing among themselves, and some of them even coming as defaults for operating systems, it becomes necessary to ensure that websites work as intended on these browsers.

Web users have browser preferences, and ensuring that your website serves them on their preferred browser keeps them coming back. On the flip side, attempting to force them into using a browser of your choice may result in fewer and fewer people visiting your website. With this in mind, browser compatibility testing has become a necessity in web development processes.

“Browser compatibility testing is crucial to ensure that web applications function seamlessly across diverse browsers, preventing user frustration and maintaining brand credibility.”

— Lisa Crispin, co-author of Agile Testing: A Practical Guide for Testers and Agile Teams

This post dives into the concept of browser compatibility testing, exploring how to check for it, how to write test cases for it, and even guiding you on healthy practices to adhere to when running browser compatibility testing.

Browser compatibility testing vs. cross-browser testing

You may have also come across the term ‘cross-browser testing’. Well, in the testing world, these terms are used interchangeably as they mean almost the same thing. However, often, cross-browser testing focuses on functional validations, while browser compatibility testing includes the visuals and performance.

For this article, browser compatibility testing is used to encompass both.

Benefits of browser compatibility testing

Let’s take a closer look at a few of the benefits of performing browser compatibility testing.

Browsers not optimized for accessibility don’t typically display web pages in accessible-friendly ways

1. Accessible web browsing

Many different types of people use the internet, including those with disabilities that may impair their ability to use a standard browser, and who may rely on keyboard-only navigation or screen readers to consume what is shown on a website. Browsers not optimized for accessibility don’t typically display web pages in accessible-friendly ways.

This is why provisions must be made for these browsers to efficiently capture and display your web content for people living with disabilities. And these needs can be spotted when running browser compatibility tests.

2. Quick detection of issues

Since browser compatibility testing is performed as part of the web development process, it’s thus a great thing for detecting issues early on, especially browser-specific issues.

When detected early, these issues can be fixed, creating a better user experience while potentially reducing potential costs from issues encountered when a site is running.

Imagine a certain browser not displaying a particular component properly in a payment webpage. This is one such scenario where browser compatibility testing can be beneficial.

3. UX consistency

One of the key benefits of conducting browser compatibility tests is to keep web content consistent across different browsers, devices, and screen sizes. This improves the user experience on the website.

4. SEO optimization

Imagine a website that takes forever to load on mobile, but is fast on computers. That will result in higher bounce rates for mobile visitors. As a result of UX consistency, accessibility, and great performance, a website that was tested for browser compatibility will signal search engines to rank it higher, improving visibility.

5. Branding improvements

While not typically a direct reason that web developers conduct browser compatibility testing, large enterprises often prioritize conducting browser compatibility tests because it makes users perceive them as organized and an authority in what they do when their website offers few or no issues.

Best practices for browser compatibility testing

1. Prioritize popular browsers first

This reason isn’t as far-fetched as it might seem at first. Some browsers see higher usage than others, sometimes depending on the region or enterprise that owns them. Since they are often used by the majority of your users, perfecting your website’s consistency on them will result in fewer reported issues.

Another reason is that they will, in most cases, cover many of the issues that may arise. The

Less popular browsers often borrow from their features, and by targeting the popular ones first, you ultimately solve for the less popular ones too. In some cases, these lesser-known browsers are more preferred.

2. Run screen and display checks

When running a browser test, include checking for UI component responsiveness and display on different screen sizes.

Following industry standards ensures that the testing is robust, with minimal or no breaks

3. Adhere to web standards

It’s common knowledge in web development to adhere to industry standards. The same thing applies to browser compatibility testing. Following industry standards ensures that the testing is robust, with minimal or no breaks.

4. Implement graceful degradation

Graceful degradation is an approach that aims to add fallbacks when an advanced website feature fails, ensuring that the experience is consistent across different browsers.

This practice is particularly beneficial for people using older browsers or not-so-popular ones.

5. Enhance progressively

This technique is the opposite of the graceful degradation technique. In progressive

enhancement, you first build a version of your website that will work on all browsers, often a basic one, then progressively enhance it by adding features while monitoring for changes in its performance across tested browsers. Combining it with graceful degradation is a powerful practice that leads to efficient testing.

6. Validate code

W3C has a set of standards that ideal websites should have in their code. In browser compatibility testing, validating your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (with its frameworks) against these standards is a good practice.

7. Test early and often

It is recommended to kick off compatibility testing right from the start of app development, as it will become more difficult and time-consuming to do when an application is more developed.

Also, it should be included as part of your CI/CD pipeline so the developers can get quicker feedback on issues and never go out of sync.

Techniques and components of browser compatibility testing

Key components

Browser compatibility testing focuses on several critical areas, which include:

1. Layout and design: for ensuring that the visual elements, like fonts, CSS styles and images, are consistently rendered.
2. Functionality: to verify that features such as modals and forms work across browsers. 
3. Performance: includes checking of load times.
4. Accessibility: which aims to confirm the adherence to web standards like WCAG.
5. Responsive design: validating performance across various screen sizes and devices.

Techniques

1. Starting with the browser matrix

This, in many instances, is the beginning of browser compatibility testing. In the browser matrix, you define the types of browsers you use for testing, their versions, and the operating systems you will run them on. Since you can’t possibly test all browsers on the market, you need to define the scope of supported browsers by conducting user research.

2. Beginning device coverage

Device coverage outlines the entire range of devices that users use your website on, from desktops to mobile devices of all screen types and operating systems. A crucially important component of device coverage is to determine the processing power of these devices.

3. Focusing on feature detection

This process is practical in nature, removes assumptions, and tests for real browser capabilities when rendering web page technologies. Checking off this box in your browser detection process ensures that your test is accurate and addresses real-world situations.

4. Recording your results

This is important for future scenarios where you might want to cross-check results or even include prior outcomes in a report.

How to write effective test cases

Test cases are bite-sized instructions used by testers to guide their testing process. In the case of a browser test, these cases help web developers and specialized testers conduct accurate and efficient tests that reflect actual problems.

They are like checklists that tell you if your application meets the requirements. And because of this, the accuracy of a test case determines how effective a test turns out to be.

When writing test cases, keep these points in mind for creating an effective test:

1. Structure appropriately

A proper test case must be structured. Each test must have a test ID, target browser, version, device, and OS type. These environment variables must be properly formatted and consistent across all test cases. Additionally, the test case should include test actions to be performed, resulting outcomes, and expected behavior.

2. Prioritize essentials

As you are writing test cases for web browsers, focus more on the most critical parts that can be affected by browsers. For instance, the functionality of web buttons can be critical to the user experience, and because of this critical nature, such a component should be prioritized when writing test cases.

Example of a test case using Tricentis

How to write test cases to verify browser compatibility

With Tricentis, you can do this using either Tricentis Tosca or Tricentis Testim. Both let you write test cases and run them on your application seamlessly across multiple modern and legacy browsers.

Using Tricentis Tosca:

TEST CASE TITLE: Check for browser compatibility on Tricentis’s support page

ID: TS-BROWSER-001

OBJECTIVE: To verify that the support page on Tricentis works and displays across five browsers on mobile, tablet, and desktop.

PRE-CONDITIONS:

• The user has an internet connection

• Supported browsers are installed on devices: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Edge, Brave

TEST DATA:

• Tricentis support URL: https://support-hub.tricentis.com/open?id=tsm_contact

• Tricentis home URL: https://tricentis.com

STEPS:

• Open the first browser: Chrome

• Navigate to the Tricentis home page

• Click on the support link

• Check that it loads properly, and make sure that all image containers have their images filled in

• Check that all links and forms are responding

• Repeat steps 1 to 5 for Firefox and the rest of the browsers on desktop, tablet, and

mobile

• Record the results for each browser and device

EXPECTED RESULTS:

• The page loads without errors

• There is a consistent layout across browsers and devices

• Elements and components work across browsers and devices

• There is no browser-specific error in the console

While automated testing is much faster than manual browser testing, it may not catch all edge cases, potentially affecting its overall efficiency

Manual vs. automated testing

Manual testing involves testing for issues manually, running browser compatibility checks on individual browsers, and recording the results. Automated testing uses tools to run these checks. While automated testing is much faster than manual browser testing, it may not catch all edge cases, potentially affecting its overall efficiency. However, with the introduction of features like Tricentis RealBrowser, the efficiency of using automated testing tools has significantly increased.

Some testers and developers may still prefer using a combination of both, with the automated method for speed and the manual method for more control over specifics, bringing a complement of features. This combination is recommended for thorough testing.

Challenges of browser compatibility testing

Web developers, QA engineers, and testers experience certain challenges when conducting

browser compatibility testing. This section addresses those challenges and how to fix them

when encountered.

1. Constant browser updates: Browser updates can cause tests to become obsolete.
2. Device diversity: With many devices and browsers out there, it becomes increasingly difficult to capture every single one of them.
3. Resource and time constraints: Lack of resources, especially for very small teams, can prevent them from making effective tests.
4. Maintenance complexity and website complexity: Maintaining tests can pose issues as websites get more complex over time.

To solve for this, automation using tools like Tricentis NeoLoad’s RealBrowser can help manage the need for retesting each time a new update is made. Some of these testing tools can simulate real-world browser tests, bridging a gap that could potentially be caused by a lack of resources.

Conclusion

This post has touched on different aspects of browser compatibility testing, indicating how to conduct it, highlighting best practices, and discussing the use of tools to make your work easier.

Running browser compatibility tests is as important as coding a web application itself. Without such testing, your efforts may be reduced, as users may feel frustrated by issues they encounter on your website.

This post was written by Wisdom Ekpotu. Wisdom is a software and technical writer based in Nigeria. Wisdom is passionate about web/mobile technologies, open-source software, and building communities. He also helps companies improve the quality of their technical documentation.