Cross Browser Testing: Definition and Techniques

Think of a website arsenic a look for your homemade cocoa spot cookies. Cross browser investigating is similar trying retired the look successful respective kitchens with antithetic appliances and ingredients.

It makes definite the cooky look tastes accordant and large whether it’s baked successful the Chrome, Firefox, oregon Safari kitchen.

Why is Cross Browser Testing Needed?

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

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

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

Factors that could pb to an app oregon 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 with antithetic surface sizes)
• Network conditions (varying levels of web velocity oregon reliability)

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

Cross browser investigating is an important portion of the prime assurance successful our team. Our users exploit antithetic browsers, truthful we request to guarantee an adjacent prime level careless of user’s preferences. The statistic of our work usage helps america to signifier the scope of browsers for the testing.

Dmitriy Borisov, QA Engineer astatine Semrush

Cross Browser Testing Definition

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

This trial ensures a accordant and seamless idiosyncratic 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 marque immoderate developmental changes to marque definite your tract runs smoothly everywhere. 

How to Perform Cross Browser Testing

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

• Validating that the strategy being tested meets expectations
• Identifying issues with 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 acceptable up your investigating environment.

There are assorted tools and techniques you tin usage to execute transverse browser testing, including manual investigating and automated testing. 

Setting Up a Cross Browser Testing Environment

A cross-browser investigating situation is the level wherever improvement teams measure the show and functionality of a website oregon app crossed assorted browsers. 

This is your controlled abstraction designed to replicate real-world conditions, allowing for broad investigating and ensuring compatibility with assorted browsers.

This situation tin beryllium acceptable up manually, but with the assistance of tools, you tin get this done faster and astatine scale.

There are respective transverse browser investigating 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 privation to trial your website oregon exertion on.

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

For example, if your people assemblage is utilizing Windows, you should trial however your tract appears connected browsers similar 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:

Selecting browsers to trial with the Website Testing app

What you tin bash 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 antithetic browsers and mobile devices. Use a cross-browser investigating instrumentality to automate the process and prevention time. 

While you whitethorn privation to trial your tract connected the astir fashionable browsers successful the world, it's important to trial your website oregon 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 however good your tract oregon app holds up connected older browsers, but it’s not ever necessary. Maybe astir of your users are connected Edge. In that case, investigating connected Edge would beryllium much important. 

Testing the astir fashionable 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 crushed to [test aged browsers] if determination is nary assemblage utilizing those aged versions. Also, it tin beryllium costly to enactment 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 investigating tools make elaborate reports and screenshots that amusement whether your website oregon web exertion appeared correctly. These reports tin assistance you place issues and bugs that request to beryllium fixed.

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

An illustration of a transverse browser ocular trial with the Website Testing app

As you tin spot successful the representation above, the webpage loads precise otherwise connected each browser, and hardly astatine each connected a fewer (IE 11 and IE 8). You tin unfastened up immoderate screenshot present to instrumentality a person look portion ocular testing. 

When analyzing trial results, wage 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 oregon functionality.
• Functional issues: Look for issues related to the functionality of your website oregon web application. These issues whitethorn beryllium related to idiosyncratic interface, navigation, oregon signifier submission.
• Performance issues: Look for issues related to the show of your website oregon web application. These issues whitethorn beryllium related to leafage load clip oregon responsiveness.

Once you person identified issues, prioritize them based connected severity and impact. Fix captious issues archetypal and past determination 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 antithetic browsers and analyzing trial results are indispensable 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 investigating is an indispensable portion of web development. However, it tin beryllium a challenging task owed to the immense fig of browsers and devices that beryllium successful the market. Here are immoderate communal issues that you whitethorn look portion performing transverse browser testing:

• Browser compatibility issues: Different browsers person antithetic rendering engines, which whitethorn origin variations successful the quality and functionality of a website. For example, a website that works perfectly good connected Google Chrome whitethorn not enactment connected Mozilla Firefox oregon Microsoft Edge.
• Device compatibility issues: Websites request to beryllium tested connected assorted 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 investigating tin beryllium a time-consuming and tedious task, particularly if you person to trial manually. Automation tools tin assistance you prevention clip and effort, but they whitethorn besides person their limitations.

Adopting Best Practices

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

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

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

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