Testing

Why is testing important?

Imagine these scenarios:

• Someone comes to your website, only they can't see it because it doesn't work on their browser
• Someone else is reading your home page and it is full of spelling mistakes
• You provided links to other sites, but when people click on them they don't go anywhere.

What would these people think of your website? They'd probably think it was rubbish. You might have spent ages building your site, but because you didn't spend a little bit of time testing it, all that work is wasted. So remember, test! test early, and test often!

Basic testing

Different browsers

See the section on cross-platform issues to learn the importance of designing your site to work in different browsers. Remember, not everyone uses the same browser as you, so try it out in as many different browsers as you can.

People's opinions

Get your friends to look at the site. A fresh pair of eyes can turn up valuable insights about your site. Is it clear what the website is for? Is it easy to get around? Is the information interesting?

Spelling

It sounds obvious, but you will be surprised how persistent those spelling mistakes are. A fresh pair of eyes is invaluable.

Bugs

Bugs are problems in computer code that stop the code doing what it's supposed to do. They are often caused by spelling mistakes or simple typing errors, but they can wreak havoc with users' browsers. If you find them, you should fix them as soon as possible, and if one of your visitors is kind enough to tell you about one, you should say thanks too.

HTML

You'll probably be able to tell if your HTML is broken somewhere because it may display poorly, or not at all, in a browser. But some HTML problems are not so easily found. The easiest way of checking is to use one of the validation tools available, such as HTML Tidy, BBEdit, or the W3C MarkUp Validation Service

Usability

See the section on usability to learn more about why it is so important, and get some ideas for testing.

Accessibility

See the section on accessibility to learn more about why it's so important, and get some ideas for testing.