Testing of GUI in Web Application

GUI Testing Handbook, check other parts: GUI Testing Introduction | Testing GUI in Windows | GUI of Web Application | Automation of GUI Tests | GUI Test Automation Tips and Tricks

Web Application Introduction. Web services are commonly mistaken for websites. Websites are mainly meant for interaction with humans and humanoids. Web services are application oriented programs which serves as a service designed for use by another program.  In most cases, web services reside in the server. Web services are self servicing, self contained application components which provide the service to the client by acting as a server. In a typical client server application that is migrated as web application, the client requests for the information as a service request to the web service in the server which responds through a service response. The service response is then utilized by the client to reflect the information through the application’s client GUI interface.

Web Application Testing

Web testing an application should cover the following areas of functionality, compatibility, interface, security, performance and usability.

Functionality testing is a testing process which concentrates on the database requests, cookies testing (a very important part of any web application testing), and the links used to connect to other web pages, the information storage and retrieval process using forms.

Compatibility testing in simple terms is defined as a test of co-existence of the application in terms of browsers, platforms, Operating system, mobility, storage and printing.

Interface testing is one of the key elements in testing which ensures that the interfaces between the concerned client and servers execute in tandem. Web applications establish links between the web server and the application server at the onset. The application server in turn connects to the database server for data retrieval, processing and storage. It is an important factor that these connections or interfaces work seamlessly without any failure or degradation in performance of speed and accuracy. The testing should check for appropriate error messages, roll back in case of failure to execute or user interruption. The complexity of this test is in ensuring that the respective interface be it web server or application or database interface captures the errors and initiates the appropriate error messages to the web application. 

Security testing is mandatory testing with in depth strategies to explore the various possibilities of unauthorized access into the application. It includes user access, areas of user access, grants to the application functionality, access as a logged in internal user to external links, logs of user activity, and permission based download of information.

Performance testing as the name signifies is testing the performance of the web application. Though the application is a client server application ported to web, the basic performance testing with respect to client server application is already covered under the client server testing aspect. Here the concentration is on the performance of the web interface of the application and its response. The application is tested on load and stress. Load testing in a web application deals with testing the application with different connection speeds to check if the performance of the application is consistent across speeds. Since web applications deal with unknown number of users with unpredictable demand on the application in generality, the database retrieval of huge information, simultaneous access of the application during normal hours and peak hours, large amount of information storage is checked for performance in this test. 

Usability testing is the testing which focuses on the front end of the web application. The assumption in a web application is that the users cannot be classified or rated in their capability to understand the functionality of the application. Usability becomes the most important criteria for the effective implementation of a web application. This test confirms the effectiveness of usage by a user with little or no knowledge of application. The analyses of web application testing have broadly classified the usability into three categories – navigation, communication of content and appropriate help.

Testing is a process which endorses the application’s suitability to be implemented in real time environment. Though the concepts and methodology of testing remain the same across various applications, the emphasis on the area of testing varies on the type of application. The important and realistic approach to web testing should follow this check list – navigation, clarity in communication of content, accessibility, consistency in presentation, design and maintenance, visual presentation of information.

Navigation should establish the familiarity in the usage of the application on repeated usage. This includes standardized usage of colors for mandatory fields, inclusion of links at the appropriate positions conveying their intent and color consistency, capability to access the fields through multiple input devices e.g. keyboard or mouse, convenience of usage in terms of linking to other pages or different sections of the application. In short, navigation testing confirms the ease of use of the application to a novice user. 

Content is another important area in web application testing. This test checks for the clarity in communication of content to the target audience. Tone of the content and adapting familiar usage in language is tested here. In depth testing of content should have these parameters tested. Testing is done on spelling errors. Specific standards of User Interface on Web application exists which concentrates on fonts, colors, and frames. For example, dark colors are best avoided in the theme as it is found annoying to the users. Content testing also concentrates on location of Images and sizes of images, the anchor links presence and their connectivity to the respective pages, their placement and color codes.

Accessibility is the next area in web application testing, Accessibility as the name suggests deals with access to the appropriate servers, resources and the human contacts. The general question on accessibility is the presence of it in usability testing. It forms a part of usability testing as it is indirectly responsible for the users wait time for a response. This testing also checks for the compatibility and ease of use with physically challenged users and the communication channels to contact the help desk or system administrator.

Consistency is a factor that correlates with users’ familiarity with the application of similar nature. It is commonly termed as ‘look and feel’ of the application. Web applications for instance use a standardized login screen with a user name and a password with help on signing in problems with appropriate help content. Consistency testing checks for this standardized look and feel across the application, the uniformity in the usage of repeated visual themes and also the consistency of the theme without graphical elements.

Design and maintenance testing checks for hyperlinks usage to associate related items, dead links and orphaned pages, forms with no functionality, broken scripts. The most important section of maintenance is handling the length and size of forms so not to overflow making navigation difficult. 

Visual Presentation testing focuses on the moderate usage of colors, following recommended standards of presenting application on the web, the color resolution factors of images, overloading or overcrowding the application with animations and images affecting the load time, and the help or feedback to lead through difficult functionality in the application as a visual presentation or interactive presentation. Though this aspect of help of visual or interactive presentations is in its nascent stage, it serves as a better reach to users in a least or no end user training scenarios.

A Table listing the focus areas and the items to be tested associated with the focus areas. 

10 Important things to Remember in GUI testing of Web application

• Test the usage of  Frames in the application
• Test the Scrolling text for inconsistency
• Test for existence of  complex URLs  embedded  particularly dynamic pages
• Make sure Orphan pages do not exist
• Look for Long scrolling pages or forms of  Input
• Identify pages with No  support for navigation
• Check for usage of  non standardized link colors
• List out forms which contain Information which is no longer relevant
• Identify forms which take long to download and recommend for optimization
• Check Reports and capability to download or convert to standard formats of storage and retrieval

Glossary 

Orphan Pages. Pages which are not linked by other pages

Cookie. A small text file stored by the web application in the PC of the user

Web service. Self Servicing self contained application component used in Web