How Do You Test a Web Page that is Media Rich?

Worried about about how to test a web page that is media-rich? Here are a few key things to keep in mind when designing test scenarios for media-rich pages.

The question we are addressing today is the one that one of our readers Colleen has requested us to answer. Here, we keep our promise.

Since this is answering an interview question, we want to let you in on a little secret–this question is not about the page. The other questions that belong to this genre are: How do you test an alarm clock, toaster, computer mouse, ATM, or a can of soda, etc.

How to Test a Media-Rich Page

It is really important to remember that no one cares how well we understand or can use an appliance. This is about your test strategy, quick thinking, and decision-making abilities.

I have heard the following answers in the past about web page testing:

1. I will check if the right and left clicks are working.
2. I will check if the clock’s hands are moving and set it.
3. Among other things, I will check if the mouse is connected to power.

While these answers are right, they do not constitute a complete, comprehensive, and effective answer. Take a moment to figure out what your testing strategy is going to be.

How about we try this out? I keep saying this in my QA class and I’ll say it one more time: Testing is a 3 step process.

Step #1: Know the expected behavior or requirements (Requirement).
Step #2: For each of these requirements, what would you test (Test condition/scenario/objective)?
Step #3: How would you test it (Test case)?

Now typically, we plan, document, and execute. But when you are looking at a real-life object and have to test on the fly, it’s going to be more impromptu and need not be documented.

Here is how I would go about answering this question and this is for an alarm:

I would first get familiar with the clock. Understand the options. How can we set a time? How does the alarm go off and for how long? If yes, how long can I snooze? If yes, how many alarms can I set? What happens if I choose a pastime? Will the alarm go off the next day at the set time? Can I change the alarm tone? etc. Once I know this, I will have my requirements.

Some requirements lead to one test condition. For instance, the alarm needs to go off at the set time. I can only check one condition, i.e. setting the time and letting the alarm go off or ring.

Some requirements lead to multiple test conditions. For example, users need to set different tunes. I will have to check to set multiple alarm times with the same tune and different alarm times with different alarm tunes.

So a requirement might yield to one or multiple test conditions. Figuring out what they are is STEP 2. Once this is done, I would write or find out the exact operations to be performed to perform a test. Like, if I gotta set the alarm, which button do I press and how long do I wait and stuff?

Once all this is done, I would first look for the alarm to be powered ON and then test by following the steps identified in Step 3.

As you can see, this is quite a lot. It looks like a huge answer, but trust me, it takes about 60-70 seconds to say it all. (Yes, I timed it). But in case you need to better organize your thoughts, you can jot down a few points on a paper which will give you a better direction.

Note: Please let me know in the comments if this answer makes sense or if you would answer it differently.

Now, moving to the case at hand–“How do we test a media-rich page?”

Media can be as images, flash files, video or audio files, social media widgets or icons, dynamic elements (like scrolling content, e.g. stocks) other hyperlinks, etc.

Check out the example given below:

[image source]

Most web pages in this category should satisfy the following considerations:

• Performance
• Efficiency
• Usability
• Cross Browser compatibility
• Aesthetically appealing

Things to keep in mind when testing media-rich pages:

#1) All information should be “Findable”. This has a lot to do with how pages are organized. The design has to be in a way that the page should be easy to use.

#2) It should work consistently on the most commonly used browsers and platforms.

#3) The page should be able to do what it is supposed to do. For example, if you’re on YouTube, you can watch a video as a guest or by logging in. It should let you comment on the videos, etc.

If YouTube lets you comment, like, and share the video but does a poor job of streaming and/or displaying the video, it means the site has failed. Therefore, it must satisfy its purpose. This is true for all applications.

#4) Since there are various elements on the page, it should not load one before or after a significant time gap that the page appears incomplete and makes the user wait around. The performance should be acceptable.

Also, it should not consume the resources of the user’s system so much that they have to kill everything just to keep this page running. It must be reasonable in its resource consumption.

#5) It must be easy to use and should keep in mind the user’s needs. For instance, some websites have this thing where they play music when you open them. While this is great, there should be an option to mute or disable it, as some users might find it unappealing to have a piece of music thrust on them.

#6) No broken links and images

#7) Dynamic elements, if they are being used, should get updated without the user having to explicitly refresh the page.

#8) Finally, an uncluttered, clean, and organic rendition of content on the page can do wonders.

Conclusion

These are just a few important points to consider while designing test scenarios/ test cases to test media-rich pages. I am sure you can come up with a lot of your scenarios from these hints. Also, we have not listed ideas for mobile, performance, load, and security testing techniques.

Hope you get my point. There is a huge opportunity here.

Read these helpful articles on web testing:

1. Complete web testing guide
2. Web testing example test cases
3. Articles on security testing of web applications
4. 180+ sample test cases for testing web applications

About Author: Thanks to STH team member Swati S. for answering the most common and important software testing interview questions about web page testing.

Also, thank you Colleen for submitting this question to us.

How would you tackle this question in the interview? Did we miss anything? Got any questions for us? Please let us know in the comments section below. We would love to hear from you.