As the technology is advancing we get to see that the web based applications are also becoming more and more powerful. Web based applications have helped many businesses to handle various operations online in a cost effective manner. Since the trend is now changing and people are getting more involved with the applications available on the World Wide Web, it is necessary to ensure that the online application is 100% bug free before it is launched on the World Wide Web. An error in operation can not only cause inconvenience to the end users but also ruin the reputation of the company that is providing that service.

Over the years Web based testing techniques have become very complex. Before going ahead with testing it is important to understand various factors that can affect the performance of the application. An application on the web would be accesses by several people hence it is bound to face a lot of security threats. If the application is not thoroughly checked for security it can be cracked and the sensitive data that it stores can be leaked. Many IT companies and Testing Companies are looking for testers who have sound knowledge of how to carry out web based testing.

The first step for a web based testing project would be to create a test plan and test design. Then you will have to create test cases considering various aspects of the application. Web based application testing is different from software testing. In this scenario functional testing is not sufficient to approve the application. You will have to look into other aspects also such as load testing, network speed, resolution, performance on various browsers etc. How the performance of the application changes when you switch from broadband to dial up connection is also important. Important aspects of web-based testing are as follows:

• Check how the application responds to various connections. Monitor how its performance changes when you switch from slow to fast network.
• How much time does it take for the images and content to get downloaded?
• Are the web pages rendering the correct information under all circumstances?

Checklist For Web- Based Testing:

In order to check the functionality of the system you will have to check the links, form and cookies in the following manner:

1. Prepare a list of outgoing links and check if they are working properly.
2. Prepare a list of internal links and check if the links are working properly.
3. Check the links that jump on to different sections of the same page.
4. Check links used to send mails.
5. Test if any unwanted pages exist in the application.
6. Check if all fields in the form are working as per the defined validations.
7. If the field have any defined default you must check for that.
8. Does the form provide any option to create, delete or modify data or forms? If yes, then this functionality should be thoroughly tested.
9. Test the application by changing the cookies settings in the browser.
10. Monitor session cookies.
11. Test how the application is affected if the cookies are deleted.

If you are implementing SEO then it is necessary to check HTML/CSS. There should be no syntax error in order to ensure that the site is visible in search engine results.

Conduct Database Testing to check if all entries are being made correctly in the database. The database should get updated properly. You must also conduct load testing for database.

Usability testing involves testing navigation i.e, how the user would move from one page to the other. This also includes testing of various controls on the web page such as buttons, boxes etc. The web site must be easy to use and the main menu should be easily accessible from every page. Check content for quality information and ensure that there is no spelling mistake. Also check the anchor text and color and font of the text. All pages must incorporate whatever is given in the specifications. Test the Sitemap option and check all links provided by site map.

The following tests must be performed to check the interface and to check the application for compatibility, performance and security:

1. Ensure that the web server and the Application server are able to interact with each other.
2. Ensure that the application server and the Database server are able to interact with each other.
3. Check how the errors are handled.
4. Is the application server able to catch errors and display the right message on the screen?
5. How does the application respond if the user cancels a transaction mid way?
6. What happens if connection to the server is reset in middle of a transaction?
7. Check the compatibility of the application with the browser
8. Check the compatibility of the application with the operating system.
9. Check the compatibility of the application with mobile browsing.
10. Check the compatibility of the application with the printing options.
11. How many users can simultaneously access the same page?
12. Is the site able to manage large amount of data entered by several users?
13. Check how the database perform under tremendous load.
14. check how the application can recover from crashes. For this it is subjected to an environment where parameters are beyond the permissible limit.
15. If you paste an internal url of the site into the address bar then it should not open till the user is logged in.
16. A user should not be able to view confidential information of other users.
17. Check validations for all input fields.
18. Check working of CAPTCHA.
19. Check how the errors and attempts to violate security are logged.

As per Software recruitment agencies in Ireland there are lot of testing jobs are available in the field of web-based testing. This field has become as popular as software testing in Ireland.