Web Applications Testing Techniques

What is Web Testing?

Web Testing in simple terms is checking your web application for potential bugs before it’s made life or before code is moved into the production environment.
During this stage issues such as that of web application security, the functioning of the site, its access to handicapped as well as regular users, and its ability to handle traffic are checked.

Web Application Testing Checklist:

Some or all of the following testing types may be performed depending on your web testing requirements.

1. Functionality Testing :

This is used to check if your product is as per the specifications you intended for it as well as the functional requirements you charted out for it in your developmental documentation. Testing Activities Included:

Test all links in your web pages are working correctly and make sure there are no broken links. Links to be checked will include –

Outgoing links
Internal links
Anchor Links
MailTo Links

Test Forms are working as expected. This will include-

Scripting checks on the form are working as expected. For example- if a user does not fill a mandatory field in a form an error message is shown.
Check default values are being populated
Once submitted, the data in the forms are submitted to a live database or is linked to a working email address
Forms are optimally formatted for better readability

Test Cookies are working as expected. Cookies are small files used by websites to primarily remember active user sessions so you do not need to log in every time you visit a website. Cookie Testing will include

Testing cookies (sessions) are deleted either when the cache is cleared or when they reach their expiry.
Delete cookies (sessions) and test that login credentials are asked for when you next visit the site.

Test HTML and CSS to ensure that search engines can crawl your site easily. This will include

Checking for Syntax Errors
Readable Color Schemas
Standard Compliance. Ensure standards such as W3C, OASIS, IETF, ISO, ECMA, or WS-I are followed.

Test business workflow– This will include

Testing your end-to-end workflow/ business scenarios takes the user through a series of webpage’s to complete.
Test negative scenarios as well, such that when a user executes an unexpected step, an appropriate error message or help is shown in your web application.

2. Usability testing:

Usability testing has now become a vital part of any web-based project. It can be carried out by testers like you or a small focus group similar to the target audience of the web application.

Test the site Navigation:

Menus, buttons, or links to different pages on your site should be easily visible and consistent on all webpages

Test the Content:

Content should be legible with no spelling or grammatical errors.
Images if present should contain an “alt” text

3.Interface Testing:

Three areas to be tested here are – Application, Web, and Database Server

Application: Test requests are sent correctly to the Database and output at the client side is displayed correctly. Errors if any must be caught by the application and must be only shown to the administrator and not the end-user.
Web Server: Test Web server is handling all application requests without any service denial.
Database Server: Make sure queries sent to the database give expected results.

Test system response when the connection between the three layers (Application, Web, and Database) can not be established and an appropriate message is shown to the end-user.

4.Database Testing:

The database is one critical component of your web application and stress must be laid to test it thoroughly. Testing activities will include-

Test if any errors are shown while executing queries.
Data Integrity is maintained while creating, updating, or deleting data in the database.
Check response time of queries and fine-tune them if necessary.
Test data retrieved from your database is shown accurately in your web application.

5. Compatibility testing.

Compatibility tests ensure that your web application displays correctly across different devices. This would include-

Browser Compatibility Test: The same website in different browsers will display differently. You need to test if your web application is being displayed correctly across browsers, javascript, AJAX and authentication are working fine. You may also check for Mobile Browser Compatibility.

The rendering of web elements like buttons, text fields, etc changes with change in the Operating System. Make sure your website works fine for various combinations of Operating systems such as Windows, Linux, Mac, and Browsers such as Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, etc.

6.Performance Testing:

This will ensure your site works under all loads. Testing activities will include but not limited to –

Website application response times at different connection speeds
Load test your web application to determine its behavior under normal and peak loads
Stress-test your website to determine its breakpoint when pushed to beyond normal loads at peak time.
Test if a crash occurs due to peak load, how does the site recover from such an event
Make sure optimization techniques like gzip compression, browser, and server-side cache enabled to reduce load times

7. Security testing:

Security testing is vital for e-commerce websites that store sensitive customer information like credit cards. Testing Activities will include-

Test unauthorized access to secure pages should not be permitted
Restricted files should not be downloadable without appropriate access
Check sessions are automatically killed after prolonged user inactivity
On the use of SSL certificates, a website should redirect to encrypted SSL pages.

8.Crowd Testing:

You will select a large number of people (crowd) to execute tests that otherwise would have been executed by a select group of people in the company. Crowdsourced testing is an interesting and upcoming concept and helps unravel many unnoticed defects.