Web Application Testing – Complete Website Testing Guide

Web app or website testing is slightly different from traditional software testing. Web apps require an internet connection to work. Moreover, web apps are accessed on various devices using various web browsers.

To test all the possible scenarios and given the multiple different ways in which the users can access the website, proper testing strategies need to be employed.

In this web application testing tutorial, we will focus on website testing and look at some web application testing types with checklists.

What is Website testing?

Website testing or web application testing is a type of testing aimed at testing web applications for its functional and non-functional requirements. 

Let’s check the different testing types used while testing web applications. Along with their respective checklists.

Functional Testing

Functional testing helps in testing the functionalities or the functional requirements of the web application. It can be carried out by focusing on various testing levels as discussed below.

• Unit Testing – The testing process usually begins at the unit testing level. In unit testing, developers test the individual modules of the application. Basically, the developers write code to check if their code works as intended. So, we can say that unit testing is automated and cannot be performed manually.
  
  
• Integration Testing – Next level after unit testing is integration testing. In this level of testing, various components are integrated and tested together by the testing team. It can be performed using both black-box as well as white-box testing techniques.
  
  
• System Testing – At the system testing level, the whole application is tested by the testing team. It basically helps in validating all the requirements before the final testing by the client.
  
  
• Acceptance Testing – Acceptance testing is the final testing level. The developed application is given to the end-users and/or business users for testing. The end-users or the stakeholders make sure that the application is easy to use. Also, all the required features are implemented correctly.
  
  

Web Application Functional Testing Checklist

The following are the checklist items for functional testing-

1. Check whether the links are working in the desired manner. 
2. Check whether buttons are working in the desired manner.
3. Verify the validations of the fields, including mandatory check, accepted character check, character limit check, error messages, etc.
4. Check whether, on the submission of the form, data is stored correctly in the database.
5. Verify that form fields are populating default values.
6. Check integration between different modules of the system. 
   
   

Non-functional Testing

In this testing, non-functional requirements such as performance, usability, security, compatibility are tested. Non-functional testing checks ‘how’ the application works, unlike functional testing that checks ‘what’ the application does. 

Usability Testing

In this testing, the usability of the application is tested. That is how easy it is for the end-user. The focus of the usability testing is to check user interface such as the text of the website, messages appearing on the website, fonts, and color used on the site, etc.

Web Application Usability Testing Checklist

The following are the checklist items for usability testing-

1. Check whether the content displayed to the users in the application is grammatically correct.
2. Check whether the error messages have a uniform and grammatically correct language.
3. Verify that the buttons and fields have names that are uniform and meaningful.
4. Check whether the font size is as desired throughout the application.
5. Check whether the color combination used in the whole website is consistent.
6. Verify that the actions that need to be taken by the users are self-explanatory.
7. Check whether the fields have proper and easily understandable tooltips and placeholders.
8. Check whether disabled and mandatory fields are displayed in a manner that is expected.
9. Verify that the drop-down field’s items are displayed correctly.
   
   
   

Performance Testing

In web application performance testing, system performance is tested under specific conditions for various criteria such as response time, scalability, interoperability.

Web Application Performance Testing Checklist

The following are the checklist items for performance testing-

1. Check website performance when multiple users are using the application simultaneously.
2. Check website performance when multiple users are using a single functionality at the same time.
3. Verify the response time of the website with different internet connection speeds.
4. Check the application performance when the internet connection is switched between two or more networks.
5. Check the recovery mechanism of the website after a system crash i.e. the application can save data in the event of a system crash.
   
   
   

Compatibility Testing

In this testing, the website is tested on various hardware and software combinations to see if it works in the desired manner.

Web Application Compatibility Testing Checklist

The following are the checklist items for compatibility testing-

• Check the application on the various operating systems and browsers such as Chrome, Mozilla, Safari for the following scenarios-
  1. Check the fonts – font-size, font-family, the spacing between the words, etc.
  2. Verify the placement of the fields and text on the screen.
  3. Check the error messages, tooltips, and placeholders.
     
     
     

Security Testing

In web application security testing, the application’s readiness to fight against unwanted attacks is tested.

Web Application Testing Security Checklist

The following are the checklist items for security testing-

1. Check whether the application allows only authorized users to access the restricted functions of the system.
2. Check whether the application uses secure protocol i.e. HTTPS. (Especially on the payment, login, registration pages)
3. Check whether the application can store confidential data such as passwords, payment information of the user in an encrypted format. Also, check whether the application displays such information in an encrypted format.
4. Verify that strong password policies are used.
5. Check whether any deactivated user on the platform is not allowed to access the website.
6. Check whether the application stands against SQL injections and brute force attacks.
7. Verify that the cookies do not store passwords.
8. Check whether the session is ended when the user clears the cache.
9. Check whether once the session expires, the user is logged out of the application.
10. Verify that the user is asked to log in again when the session is expired.
    
    

Conclusion

Website testing is one of the most common tasks that come under the roles and responsibilities of a Software Tester. I hope with this tutorial on web application testing, you should be able to understand the intricacies of web testing. And identify any issues in the web application before it is available to the end-users.