1. Factors affecting Testing of Web Applications
Web Applications can have a lot of variables affecting them such as:
- Numerous Application Usage (Entry – Exit) Paths are possible
Due to the design and nature of the web applications it is possible that different users
follow different application usage paths.
For example in an online banking application a user may directly go to “Bill Pay” page
and other users may check account balances, view previous transactions and then “Pay
the Bills”.
Generally a large number of usage paths are possible and all are supposed to work well.
All these Permutations and Combinations need to be tested thoroughly
- People with varying backgrounds & technical skills may use the application
Not all applications are self explanatory to all people. People have varying backgrounds
and may find the application hard to use. For instance a Business Intelligence application
with “Drill-Down-Reports” may work out for certain users but not for others.
Although this affects the design of the applications, but these factors should be tested in
usability testing of the applications
- Intranet versus Internet based Applications
Intranet based applications generally cater to a controlled audience. The developers and
architects can make accurate assumptions about the people accessing the apps and the
hardware/software/technical specifications of the client machines.
While it may be difficult to make similar assumptions for Internet Based Applications
Also the intranet users can generally access the app from ‘trusted’ sources whereas for
internet applications the users may need to be authenticated and the security measures
may have to be much more stringent.
Test Cases need to be designed to test the various scenarios and risks involved.

2. - The end users may use different types of browsers to access the app
Typically for Internet based applications users may have different Browsers when
accessing the apps. This aspect also needs to be tested. If we test the app only on IE then
we cannot ensure if works well on Netscape or Fire-Fox. Because these browsers may not
only render pages differently but also have varying levels of support for client side
scripting languages such as java-script.
- Even on similar browsers application may be rendered differently based on the
Screen resolution/Hardware/Software Configuration
- Network speeds:
Slow Network speeds may cause the various components of a Webpage to be
downloaded with a time lag. This may cause errors to be thrown up.
The testing process needs to consider this as important factor especially for Internet based
Applications
- ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)
It may be required that the applications be compliant with ADA. Due certain disabilities,
some of the users may have difficulty in accessing the Web Applications unless the
applications are ADA compliant. The Application may need to be tested for compliance
and usability
- Other Regulatory Compliance/Standards:
Depending on the nature of the application and sensitivity of the data captured the
applications may have to be tested for relevant Compliance Standards. This is more
crucial for Web Based Applications because of their possible exposure to a wide
audience.
- Firewalls:
As mentioned earlier Applications may behave differently across firewalls. Applications
may have certain web services or may operate on different ports that may have been
blocked. So the apps need to be tested for these aspects as well.
- Security Aspects:
If the Application captures certain personal or sensitive information, it may be crucial to
test the security strength of the application. Sufficient care needs to be taken that the
security of the data is not compromised.
Egrove Systems Corporation provides web development services using technology of
wordpress, joomla, Drupal and more CMS projects. For more web application articles
visit www.egrovesys.com
Article Source:
eGrove Systems