The Evolving QA Landscape

Market Growth and Influencing Factors

The software testing sector has witnessed remarkable expansion, driven by factors such as big data, AI, cloud technology, cybersecurity, and DevOps. These elements, combined with internal QA trends like test automation and shift-left testing, are set to guide the direction of manual QA in 2024

Trend #1: Harmonizing Automation and Manual Testing

While automated testing continues to gain ground, the industry recognizes the irreplaceable value of manual testing in certain scenarios. The trend is moving towards a balanced approach that leverages the strengths of both methodologies

Key Areas for Manual Testing:

• UX testing
• UI improvements
• Exploratory testing
• Ad hoc testing

Automation Priority Areas:

• Browser and OS compatibility testing
• Performance and load testing
• Unit testing
• Integration testing
• Functional testing

Trend #2: The AI Revolution in QA

Artificial Intelligence is set to play a pivotal role in QA processes, offering tools and capabilities that enhance efficiency and accuracy

AI Applications in QA:

• Test case generation
• Test documentation writing
• Data preparation
• Automated testing enhancement
• Error decoding and reporting improvement

Trend #3: The Rise of Data Testing

As data becomes increasingly central to software applications, specialized tools for data testing are emerging

Types of Data Testing Tools:

• Data validation tools: Checking input data against user-defined criteria
• Data profiling tools: Analyzing dataset structure and content
• ETL tools: Managing data pipelines
• Integration tools: Combining information from diverse sources

Trend #4: Quality Test Centers

The concept of quality test centers is gaining traction, offering comprehensive testing services beyond traditional QA team structures

Characteristics of Quality Test Centers:

• Larger, specialized facilities
• Broader range of testing services
• Centralized or dedicated structure
• Advanced tools and technologies

Trend #5: Cybersecurity and Risk Compliance

With the increasing threat of cyber attacks, security testing has become a critical component of the QA process

Focus Areas in Security Testing:

• Penetration testing
• API security
• Microservices security
• Backend software security

Trend #6: IoT Testing

As the Internet of Things (IoT) market expands, IoT testing is becoming a significant trend in software testing

IoT Testing Priorities:

• Security
• Accessibility
• Software compatibility
• Data integrity
• Performance
• Scalability

Trend #7: QAOps Integration

QAOps, which integrates continuous testing with DevOps methodology, is expected to gain wider adoption

Benefits of QAOps:

• Enhanced CI/CD process
• Improved QA pipeline
• Better collaboration between developers, testers, and operations teams

Trend #8: Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

IaC is emerging as a solution to challenges related to server allocation and configuration in cloud environments

Trend #9: Emerging Testing Tools

New types of testing tools are anticipated to address evolving technological landscapes

• AI-driven testing tools
• Quantum computing testing tools
• Extended IoT testing tools
• Decentralized application (DApp) testing tools
• AR and VR testing tools
• 5G testing tools
• Edge computing testing tools

Trend #10: Emphasis on Exploratory Testing

Exploratory testing is gaining importance as a method to develop quality solutions without heavy reliance on automation

Key Aspects of Exploratory Testing:

• Chartering (defining testing session missions)
• Session-based testing
• Pair testing

Trend #11: Shift-Left Testing

The shift-left approach, which moves testing activities earlier in the development cycle, is expected to gain prominence

Benefits of Shift-Left Testing:

• Early defect identification
• Promotion of quality culture within development teams
• Time and resource savings

As we move into 2024, these trends will shape the future of manual QA, driving innovation and efficiency in software testing practices. QA professionals and organizations that adapt to these changes will be well-positioned to deliver high-quality software products in an increasingly complex technological landscape.

For more quality assurance related articles, follow this link here.

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A Brief Understanding of WCAG Standards

The WCAG standards are organized around four principles: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust (POUR). Each principle is associated with guidelines and success criteria that help ensure a holistic approach to accessibility. Let us look into an example of adhering to these principles:

html

<!– Example: Providing alternative text for images –>

<img src=”profile.jpg” alt=”Profile picture of John Doe, Software Engineer”>

In this instance, the alt attribute of the img element provides descriptive text that screen readers can convey to users who may not be able to view the image.

Types of Accessibility Testing

Accessibility testing involves a multi-faceted approach to ensuring that web content is usable by individuals with disabilities. Two primary methods are automated testing and manual testing.

Automated Testing

Automated testing involves utilizing tools that automatically analyze web content for accessibility issues. A popular tool for this purpose is axe-core, a JavaScript library that provides comprehensive automated accessibility testing. Here’s a more detailed example of using axe-core:

Javascript

import { axe } from ‘axe-core’;

// Run accessibility tests on the entire document

axe.run(document, {}, (error, results) => {

  if (error) throw error;

  // Process the results

  for (const violation of results.violations) {

    console.log(violation.description);

    console.log(‘Affected elements:’, violation.nodes.map(node => node.html));

  }

});

In the above code, we import the axe function and execute the tests on the entire document. The results are then processed, providing a description of the violation and the affected elements.

Manual Testing

Manual testing plays a vital role in accessibility evaluation, as it simulates the actual user experience. When conducting manual testing, it’s essential to employ a variety of assistive technologies, such as screen readers and keyboard navigation. For example, consider this more detailed approach to testing keyboard navigation:

html

<!– example: Testing keyboard navigation –>

<button id=”myButton” tabindex=”0″ role=”button” onclick=”doSomething()”>Click me</button>

By ensuring that the button is both focusable (tabindex=”0″) and has a semantic role attribute, you optimize keyboard navigation.

Setting Up Accessibility Testing Tools

Preparing your development environment for accessibility testing is a crucial step. Let’s explore a comprehensive setup for using axe-core:

Install axe-core via npm

Bash

npm install axe-core –save-dev

Integrate axe-core into your test suite or testing framework:

javascript

// In your testing configuration

import { axe, toHaveNoViolations } from ‘axe-core’;

expect.extend(toHaveNoViolations);

With this setup, you can use axe-core seamlessly within your automated testing framework.

Conducting Manual Accessibility Testing

Manual testing encompasses a range of techniques to replicate the experiences of users with disabilities. For instance, when testing with a screen reader, consider verifying the reading order of content and the coherence of the auditory presentation.

Integrating Accessibility Testing into Development Workflow

To ensure that accessibility testing becomes an integral part of your development process, consider incorporating it into your continuous integration (CI) pipeline. Here’s a detailed approach:

Update your package.json script section

json

“scripts”: {

  “test:accessibility”: “axe .”

}

Integrate the accessibility tests into your CI process, such as using a tool like Jenkins or Travis CI.

By integrating accessibility testing into your CI pipeline, you ensure that new code changes are automatically evaluated for accessibility issues.

Addressing Accessibility Issues

Identifying and addressing accessibility issues is a crucial aspect of ensuring compliance with WCAG standards. Consider the following example of correcting missing labels for form elements:

html

<label for=”username”>Username:</label>

<input type=”text” id=”username” name=”username”>

By associating the label with the input using the for attribute, you create a clear connection between the label and the input field.

Continuous Monitoring of Accessibility

Web accessibility is an ongoing effort that requires continuous vigilance. To maintain a high level of accessibility compliance, consider incorporating automated accessibility tests into your continuous integration (CI) and continuous deployment (CD) pipeline. Here’s a look at how you can achieve this:

Configure your CI/CD pipeline to run accessibility tests as part of the process.

yaml

# Example: .gitlab-ci.yml for GitLab CI/CD

test:accessibility:

  script:

    – npm install

    – npm run test:accessibility

Set up notifications for accessibility test results to alert the development team about any violations.

By integrating accessibility tests into your CI/CD pipeline, you ensure that any new code changes are automatically evaluated for accessibility issues before they reach production.

Conclusion

Implementing accessibility testing to verify compliance with WCAG standards is not only a technical endeavor but a moral imperative. By embracing both automated and manual testing techniques, you contribute to making the digital landscape more inclusive and accessible for everyone, regardless of their abilities.

Throughout this guide, we’ve explored the significance of adhering to WCAG standards, the intricacies of various accessibility testing methods, tool setup and integration, issue resolution, and the importance of continuous monitoring. Your dedication to accessibility enriches the online experience for countless individuals and reflects a commitment to a more equitable web.

While the journey towards accessibility is ongoing, staying informed about the latest WCAG updates and consistently practicing accessibility testing will ensure that your web presence remains genuinely inclusive and welcoming to all. Your efforts resonate far beyond code, leaving a positive impact on users and communities worldwide.

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In most projects, you must skillfully combine manual and automated testing for the most comprehensive testing. However, both approaches are not entirely interchangeable and have significant differences.

This article covers only manual testing in detail; you can read more about automation testing here. Let’s start from the beginning.

What is manual testing?

Manual testing is an approach that evaluates the performance of software and examines its features from the end-user perspective to assess its quality. It is much more intensive QA testing as it involves human testers closely monitoring the code quality, identifying existing defects, and anticipating any possible weaknesses.

The profound impact of manual testing results from its four-stage process.

A manual testing project starts with a requirement study that involves testers getting acquainted with quality assurance requirements. QA engineers understand the software’s needs, objectives, operating principles, main features and functions, and possible vulnerabilities at this stage.

The next step is to design test cases to examine all possible use cases of the software. Testers can use Excel sheets to document their test cases, but if the project is large, it is not the most efficient way. There are efficient case management tools for manual testers like Kissflow, Appian, and Alfresco that can help them document test cases and automate the workflow.

Testing and bug reporting follow the test case design. Manual testers create the environment to live test the software. They continuously log bugs that they come across using a bug-tracking system.

The final step is the analysis of manual testing results. Here, the aim is to generate valuable metrics to help developers fix defects and bugs.

When to use manual testing?

Some people believe that test automation is a replacement for manual testers. QA engineers understand that manual testing is indispensable for several reasons.

1. Certain tests can only be successful manually

For instance, user experience testing during quality assurance cannot be complete without manual testing. You can automate the UX/UI testing workflow, but only a human can adequately perform tasks like an end user. Compatibility and interactions are essential for mobile devices, and any app, if deployed without manual testing, risks being buggy.

2. Large software almost always has hidden bugs

Automated testing might be able to discover most bugs testing a small-scale software product, but when things go to the enterprise level, it is impossible to detect hidden bugs. Machines can be programmed to test for specific bugs. But manual testers run into hidden bugs during their routine tasks. Automation testing can never detect such defects.

3. When budget is a constraint 

Automated testing can be expensive. If your budget is low, you do not want to spend your initial investments on testing the product before it can hit the market. Due to its low maintenance expenses, manual testing is a more suitable option here.

4. Automation often falls behind sprints

Maintaining automated test cases is no easy job. You have to update the scripts for performance and validity continuously. It is difficult for automated testing to keep up with frequent software update releases. Manual testing can manage to be in sync with sprints.

5. Repetition and variability

Any effective QA testing will have two characteristics – repetition and variability. Automated testing is excellent for repetitive testing processes, but that’s not enough. Without manual testing, you cannot introduce variability in the process. This is why automation is often combined with manual testing.

Common myths surrounding manual testing 

As a manual tester, you might often hear these myths:

• Manual testing is easy: If you think anyone can do manual testing, then you are misinformed. It requires skills and a certain mindset to be a successful manual tester.
• Automation will replace manual testing: Again, it’s impossible to simulate human interaction with the software entirely. Manual testers will always remain relevant.
• QA engineers are only involved in the post-development stage: Companies with successful products know that testers must work simultaneously with developers to catch bugs early on. Including testers in the final step is a risky venture.

Best tools for manual testing

Depending on the stage at which you are conducting the manual testing, you can pick from these tools:

For case management:  Kissflow, Appian, Alfresco

For bug tracking: Jira, Bugzilla, Trello

For cross-browser testing: BrowserStack, Sauce Labs

Screen capture tools: Loom, Skitch, CloudApp

Conclusion

Manual testing remains an essential aspect of successful software products. As software becomes more user-oriented, manual testers are becoming increasingly important in guiding the efficiency of automated testing.

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Software development teams employ several tactics to correct this problem. While smaller groups working on small-scale projects can eliminate the code review process, it is not an option for enterprise-level companies. Rather than removing pull requests and code reviews altogether, you can improve the experience for both developers and code reviewers by adopting some best practices.

This article will explore some best practices for speeding up code reviews.

Keep pull requests small

One of the biggest reasons developers dread reviewing pull requests is the high quantity of changes in the code base. When there are 1000+ lines of code changes, reviewing these changes can take hours or even days. Often, a reviewer skims through the code rather than carefully reviewing the changes. As a result, the quality of the code is compromised.

Keeping pull requests small is an excellent idea to have high review quality. When a small number of changes are to be reviewed, engineers do not have to spend too much time creating a mental map of how these changes interact with the code. Less number of changes means fewer errors and comments. The reviewer doesn’t have to run to the author often when pull requests are kept smaller.

Keeping the pull requests small can seem daunting if you are not efficiently breaking down your work into smaller tasks. Try to segregate tasks such as separate re-factoring from new features or bug fixes. You can also use feature flags in your code to directly merge small changes into the main branch of the code without showing up in the production app.

Implement Response Time SLAs

The code review cycle becomes inefficient when pull requests are regularly unreviewed for long durations. You must set clear expectations for how quickly a new pull request should be reviewed. What is the maximum time your team allows a code review request to stay pending? Is it an hour? or 24 hours? Two days?

The answer most likely depends on the size of your team, but the best practice for code review is to establish a precise, responsive time SLA (service level agreement). An SLA usually refers to how quickly our response is given when a technical issue is raised. There should be the right balance in deciding response time SLA.

You cannot expect the code reviewers to attend to your new pull requests immediately and drop whatever they are doing. At the same time, it is detrimental to wait for hours to get the changes reviewed. The right approach is to set a regular response time SLA for pull request reviews. For instance, your team can establish a three-hour response time SLA for internal team code reviews and a 24-hour response time SLA for external pull requests.

The right balance of response time SLA puts your team in a flow state where every developer can work on the report and review pull requests throughout the day without affecting their productivity.

Set up continuous integration pipelines

If code reviewers have to go through minimal changes such as comments like “Missing Semicolon” or “Incorrect Indentation”, it will be highly tedious for them to complete the review. Ensure that developers are not spending time on issues that code formatters and code linters can easily take care of. Several tools are available to ensure that code is formatted correctly so developers can focus on essential things.

For example, suppose you are working on a JavaScript project. In that case, you can configure a formatter like Prettier and a linter like ESLint low to automatically format the code in your repo. Additionally, you can set up continuous integration for the repo using tools like Travis CI and GitHub Actions. This CI pipeline will run the formatting and linting task when you’re unit testing. The CI pipeline will block the pull request from merging with the main branch if the pipeline fails at any step.

This approach can automate several essential parts of the code review process, saving hours.

Train junior and mid-level engineers 

One way to improve the capability of your team to conduct quick and effective code reviews is to teach less experienced engineers. During a code review, help junior and mid-level engineers understand what’s important and what’s not. Teach them the grammar of code review comments to communicate efficiently. You can also take references from Google’s Code Review Developer Guide, an excellent guide for code authors and reviewers.

Conclusion

Code review is an integral part of the software development lifecycle, but in the absence of optimization, it can result in unwarranted delays. We hope these steps will help you streamline the code review process.

To learn more, refer to the guide on understanding and improving code quality from Talent500. We are a platform for software engineers to find career re-defining opportunities with global companies. Join us here.

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