Ui testing on multi lingual
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Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
7 basic tips for testing multi-lingual web sites
Reposting Again.
These days a number of web sites are deployed in multiple languages. As companies perform more and more business in other countries, the number of such global multi-lingual web applications will continue to increase.
Testing web sites supporting multiple languages has its own fair share of challenges. In this article, I will share seven tips with you that will enable you to test the multi-lingual browser-based applications in a complete way:
Tip # 1 - Prepare and use the required test environment
If a web site is hosted in English and Japanese languages, it is not enough to simply change the default browser language and perform identical tests in both the languages. Depending on its implementation, a web site may figure out the correct language for its interface from the browser language setting, the regional and language settings of the machine, a configuration in the web application or other factors. Therefore, in order to perform a realistic test, it is imperative that the web site be tested from two machines - one with the English operating system and one with the Japanese operating system. You might want to keep the default settings on each machine since many users do not change the default settings on their machines.
Tip # 2 - Acquire correct translations
A native speaker of the language, belonging to the same region as the users, is usually the best resource to provide translations that are accurate in both meaning as well as context. If such a person is not available to provide you the translations of the text, you might have to depend on automated web translations available on web sites like wordreference.com and dictionary.com. It is a good idea to compare automated translations from multiple sources before using them in the test.
Tip # 3 - Get really comfortable with the application
Since you might not know the languages supported by the web site, it is always a good idea for you to be very conversant with the functionality of the web site. Execute the test cases in the English version of the site a number of times. This will help you find your way easily within the other language version. Otherwise, you might have to keep the English version of the site open in another browser in order to figure out how to proceed in the other language version (and this could slow you down).
Tip # 4 - Start with testing the labels
You could start testing the other language version of the web site by first looking at all the labels. Labels are the more static items in the web site. English labels are usually short and translated labels tend to expand. It is important to spot any issues related to label truncation, overlay on/ under other controls, incorrect word wrapping etc. It is even more important to compare the labels with their translations in the other language.
Tip # 5 - Move on to the other controls
Next, you could move on to checking the other controls for correct translations and any user interface issues. It is important that the web site provides correct error messages in the other language. The test should include generating all the error messages. Usually for any text that is not translated, three possibilities exist. The text will be missing or its English equivalent will be present or you will see junk characters in its place.
Tip # 6 - Do test the data
Usually, multi-lingual web sites store the data in the UTF-8 Unicode encoding format. To check the character encoding for your website in mozilla: go to View -> Character Encoding and in IE go to View -> Encoding. Data in different languages can be easily represented in this format. Make sure to check the input data. It should be possible to enter data in the other language in the web site. The data displayed by the web site should be correct. The output data should be compared with its translation.
Tip # 7 - Be aware of cultural issues
A challenge in testing multi-lingual web sites is that each language might be meant for users from a particular culture. Many things such as preferred (and not preferred) colors, text direction (this can be left to right, right to left or top to bottom), format of salutations and addresses, measures, currency etc. are different in different cultures. Not only should the other language version of the web site provide correct translations, other elements of the user interface e.g. text direction, currency symbol, date format etc. should also be correct.
As you might have gathered from the tips given above, using the correct test environment and acquiring correct translations is critical in performing a successful test of other language versions of a web site.
It would be interesting to know your experience on testing multi-language web sites.
These days a number of web sites are deployed in multiple languages. As companies perform more and more business in other countries, the number of such global multi-lingual web applications will continue to increase.
Testing web sites supporting multiple languages has its own fair share of challenges. In this article, I will share seven tips with you that will enable you to test the multi-lingual browser-based applications in a complete way:
Tip # 1 - Prepare and use the required test environment
If a web site is hosted in English and Japanese languages, it is not enough to simply change the default browser language and perform identical tests in both the languages. Depending on its implementation, a web site may figure out the correct language for its interface from the browser language setting, the regional and language settings of the machine, a configuration in the web application or other factors. Therefore, in order to perform a realistic test, it is imperative that the web site be tested from two machines - one with the English operating system and one with the Japanese operating system. You might want to keep the default settings on each machine since many users do not change the default settings on their machines.
Tip # 2 - Acquire correct translations
A native speaker of the language, belonging to the same region as the users, is usually the best resource to provide translations that are accurate in both meaning as well as context. If such a person is not available to provide you the translations of the text, you might have to depend on automated web translations available on web sites like wordreference.com and dictionary.com. It is a good idea to compare automated translations from multiple sources before using them in the test.
Tip # 3 - Get really comfortable with the application
Since you might not know the languages supported by the web site, it is always a good idea for you to be very conversant with the functionality of the web site. Execute the test cases in the English version of the site a number of times. This will help you find your way easily within the other language version. Otherwise, you might have to keep the English version of the site open in another browser in order to figure out how to proceed in the other language version (and this could slow you down).
Tip # 4 - Start with testing the labels
You could start testing the other language version of the web site by first looking at all the labels. Labels are the more static items in the web site. English labels are usually short and translated labels tend to expand. It is important to spot any issues related to label truncation, overlay on/ under other controls, incorrect word wrapping etc. It is even more important to compare the labels with their translations in the other language.
Tip # 5 - Move on to the other controls
Next, you could move on to checking the other controls for correct translations and any user interface issues. It is important that the web site provides correct error messages in the other language. The test should include generating all the error messages. Usually for any text that is not translated, three possibilities exist. The text will be missing or its English equivalent will be present or you will see junk characters in its place.
Tip # 6 - Do test the data
Usually, multi-lingual web sites store the data in the UTF-8 Unicode encoding format. To check the character encoding for your website in mozilla: go to View -> Character Encoding and in IE go to View -> Encoding. Data in different languages can be easily represented in this format. Make sure to check the input data. It should be possible to enter data in the other language in the web site. The data displayed by the web site should be correct. The output data should be compared with its translation.
Tip # 7 - Be aware of cultural issues
A challenge in testing multi-lingual web sites is that each language might be meant for users from a particular culture. Many things such as preferred (and not preferred) colors, text direction (this can be left to right, right to left or top to bottom), format of salutations and addresses, measures, currency etc. are different in different cultures. Not only should the other language version of the web site provide correct translations, other elements of the user interface e.g. text direction, currency symbol, date format etc. should also be correct.
As you might have gathered from the tips given above, using the correct test environment and acquiring correct translations is critical in performing a successful test of other language versions of a web site.
It would be interesting to know your experience on testing multi-language web sites.
HTML5
The Web Is Reborn
The last decade expanded what we could do online, but the Web’s basic programming couldn’t keep up. That threatened to fracture the world’s greatest innovation engine—until a small group of Web rivals joined forces to save it.
Mozilla, Opera, and Apple announced that it was forming a new body to take up the work on HTML that was being abandoned by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
The impor tant point is that HTML5 has been developed by companies that actually have to answer to their customers. And their work has made for the biggest overhaul the programming of the Web has ever received.
What HTML5 will change?
Structure *New tags in coding of sites will help them better organize the information they present to search engines’ automated indexers. That could make search results more relevant for everyone.
Canvas
*Video in the browser is tough today because its about plug-ins. Now a new video tag.
YouTube running entirely using the video tag. No flash required.
*The language has tags for video and audio, which should dramatically streamline the way the Web handles multimedia: it will be as easy for a Web developer to incorporate a film clip or a song as it is to place text and images.
*HTML5 will clean the web content up: multimedia elements will no longer require complex code and an add-on program such as Flash. This should make Web browsers faster and more efficient.
Structure *New tags in coding of sites will help them better organize the information they present to search engines’ automated indexers. That could make search results more relevant for everyone.
Canvas
*Video in the browser is tough today because its about plug-ins. Now a new video tag.
YouTube running entirely using the video tag. No flash required.
*The language has tags for video and audio, which should dramatically streamline the way the Web handles multimedia: it will be as easy for a Web developer to incorporate a film clip or a song as it is to place text and images.
*HTML5 will clean the web content up: multimedia elements will no longer require complex code and an add-on program such as Flash. This should make Web browsers faster and more efficient.
Drag and drop
Dragging and dropping has been the standard way to move files around a computer desktop. Now HTML5 is bringing it to the web. You could quickly upload a new photo of yourself to a social network.
Dragging and dropping has been the standard way to move files around a computer desktop. Now HTML5 is bringing it to the web. You could quickly upload a new photo of yourself to a social network.
Database and Application Cache
n HTML5 has the capacity which could enable people to use Web pages even when they’re not connected to the Internet. When you had connectivity again, you’d find that the website “takes care of synching it up.
n Still in development is a feature that enables a browser to store a large amount of data; the new specifications recommend that the amount be five megabytes per Web domain, or 1,000 times more than is currently possible.
NEW LIFE
n HTML5 can’t fix the Web overnight. There’s still a long way to go. For example, while the browser makers are in agreement on most things, they continue to argue about which video standards to support.
n It might also take some time for Web developers to put the technology to its most significant uses; first they’ll want to be sure that enough people are using Web browsers that can fully handle HTML5
n Scribd (Document Sharing Website) engineers spent 6 months rebuilding the site . They stopped using flash to display documents , even though that meant they had to convert tens of millions of files to HTML5.
*After the renewal Scribd’s pages looked crispier. No longer did it seem as if users had to view the files through their lens.
* Readers began sticking around 3 times longer.
* Scribd’s renovation also made the site usable in the browser of an ipad, where it has the smoothness and light feel of an app
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