Also known as multi-browser testing or online browser testing, cross-browser testing is a nonfunctional test that examines how websites or applications function across different web browsers. When you perform browser compatibility testing, you’re primarily examining the base functionality, design, accessibility, and responsiveness of your app in each specific browser.
Running these tests across all possible variables can be time-consuming—and fall beyond the scope of your team’s bandwidth and resources. Conducting data analysis to understand how your target audience accesses your website can help you prioritize which browsers require testing.
You’ll need to consider the top browsers, device types, and operating systems, and determine which combinations must take priority in your tests. This will help you achieve better functionality on the browsers your user base uses most often.
While you can perform cross-browser tests manually on different browsers and devices, automating the process can be a more effective use of your team’s time and resources.
These steps will walk you through how to conduct Selenium cross-browser testing, regardless of the browser or device type.
You’ll need to establish a baseline for cross-browser testing before you begin the tests. You can do this by running all design and functionality tests on your primary browser. In most cases, this will mean running the tests in Chrome. Doing so allows you to create a “control group” and compare the site’s performance on other browsers to it.
Once you’ve established your baseline, identify other target browsers that your users are likely to use to visit your website.
As a free, open-source platform for automated cross-browser testing, Selenium is one of the most trusted tools for testers and developers creating web-based applications. It works on Windows, Mac, and Linux, with native support for some of the most common programming languages.
However, while Selenium is a comprehensive tool on its own, Ranorex Studio is an essential part of your automated cross-browser testing toolkit.
Without Ranorex Studio, developers have to conduct all their tests individually and can’t run them in parallel with each other. Using Ranorex Studio and its robust Selenium integration enables developers to build, manage, and execute cross-browser testing without adding hours of extra work to their workload.
Ranorex Studio makes it easy for even the newest developer on your team to create test cases. Between our automated testing frameworks, GUI object recognition for web applications, and accessible support from our experts, you can develop test cases within the browser and OS of your choosing. This allows your team to make adjustments more easily, saving them time and potential human error.
Using Ranorex’s integration with Selenium, you can conduct your cross-browser tests in parallel with each other within a matter of minutes. The platform will return a report to you as each test concludes, noting errors and their level of urgency based on your parameters.
With every update you make to your web-based application, you should conduct cross-browser testing during development or prior to release. This ensures that your webpage is functional and viewable for all users before updates are released. It also allows you to catch bugs or visual differences between browsers before they become an issue that affects your user experience.
This non-exhaustive list will help you develop a foundation of best practices whenever your team needs to conduct cross-browser tests.
Using testing grids in programs like Selenium allows you the flexibility to distribute your test cases for execution. It also reduces batch processing time and allows you to compare multiple nodes (or tests) using a singular hub as a control group.
Automating your cross-browser testing process streamlines it significantly by allowing you to conduct tests on multiple browsers at the same time. This can save your testing team hours of work, and makes the test process less tedious and resource-intensive.
Your website will render at various resolutions for different devices and browsers. Include resolution testing in your cross-browser test framework to ensure your website renders clearly and quickly at all resolutions, including mobile devices.
In addition to testing design elements and load speed for your web pages, the best websites also have tests to ensure their accessibility. Such testing ensures you’re compliant with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and that your entire website is accessible to all users.
It’s essential to test the base functionality of your web pages with cross-browser testing to ensure all elements on the page are working as intended. After all, if your site doesn’t work, your visitors will leave and find another website that does.
Not all browsers are created equal. A known issue developers have identified for Firefox might not be present in Google Chrome, Opera, or Microsoft Edge—so it’s essential to be aware of any potential browser-specific issues and address them before they become a problem for your users.
Your developers routinely develop new updates to make your site safer, more functional, and easier to use. Similarly, your application testers should perform cross-browser testing either during the development process or prior to updates being released.
Your developers and testing team should work in tandem to ensure your website or web-based application is functioning properly. By keeping an open line of communication between developers and testers—and fostering a culture of making data-informed decisions around your products—you’ll be able to create a better experience for your end users.
Ranorex Studio includes a host of tools and integrations to make your automated cross-browser testing faster, easier, and more efficient.
With Ranorex Remote, you can run tests simultaneously in different test environments all at once. You can also use Ranorex Parallel Runner, a command-line tool that allows parallel testing across multiple capabilities sets on a single Selenium grid.
Want to see the power of Ranorex Studio for yourself? Download a free trial today.