Once you’ve drafted or even launched a website, testing what’s so familiar can seem pretty easy. For instance, an individual webpage can be evaluated with relative ease. But part of the real test of a site’s build integrity comes to how everything works in sequence, securely, and with a variety of ways to access it.
It can be a little tricky to conceptualize all the ways website testing might fall short (we’re all human, after all), but making sure these areas are on your testing checklist will definitely prevent some common issues.
Checking Security
Ensuring the security of your website is possibly the most important aspect, both for you and your site’s users. Especially for websites with any confidential information, passing all security checkpoints is fundamental.
- Make sure that all requests and responses from client-to-servers are behaving normally. Verifying that a specific user is who they claim to be with password and account management helps ensure these responses and requests are effective and appropriate.
- Check that pressing the browser’s back button doesn’t return a user to a live session.
- If your website deals with financial or otherwise sensitive information, be certain that the website cache doesn’t store login information after a user logs off.
Stage Environment Testing
Staging environments test coding, overall site builds, and the functionality of updates to ensure quality in an environment that mimics what the actual website (or update) will look like when released. The staging environment needs a copy of the same versions of hardware, servers, and databases so it can mimic the website’s final environment as accurately as possible before release.
While automated website testing won’t perfectly catch all kinds of errors, such services are widely available at different price points depending on your website’s needs. They can even help differentiate different types of common errors, like script vs system errors, so you know where to focus.
LambaTest has an excellent run-down of automated stage-environment’s testing capabilities.
Cross-Browser Accessibility
While we all use our preferred browsers, plugins, and extensions for a more enjoyable experience on the web, making certain your site’s accessible by as many people as possible, including those with physical disabilities or who simply use a different browser, is fundamental to generating your audience. For instance, in a large city like Los Angeles, if even a small percent of people are using a screen reader for a website that hasn’t been optimized for it, that could result in losing thousands of visitors.
Some common accessibility methods for your website include:
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Keyboard shortcuts.
Many users prefer solely using their keyboards to navigate the web as much as possible. Adding features like tabbing between buttons and text, key-to-click support for website buttons, and pressing “Esc” to close a pop-up can help earn a lot of interest and commitment.
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Alt-text functionality.
Alternative text is necessary for all images and helps describe text for people who are visually impaired. Make sure that even if an image is purely ornamental, it has an empty “alt attribute” in the code (like alt=””) to help a screen reader determine that it should be skipped over.
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Having video captions for people with hearing disabilities.
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Testing compatibility with older versions of browsers.
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The look and technical functionality of your site on mobile phones and tablets.
Our team is experienced in using testing the right stuff for your site. Contact our team at FreshySites if your are considering a redesign of your website!
