In these competitive times, every website needs to be visually appealing to users. How a website looks can decide if people will continue to use it or move on to other sites. According to GoodFirms, in 2021, 53.8% of web designers consider a ‘lack of responsiveness on all devices’ to be a primary reason prompting the redesign of a website.
Therefore, checking if the visual elements are displaying properly across different devices, browsers, or platforms is a vital part of making software. It ensures that the visual parts, like the layout, images, and buttons on a website or app, are working right. As the focus on improving user experience increases, visual testing has become super important.
Visual regression testing assures that users will receive an excellent visual experience. In this article, we will explore what visual regression testing is and compare the features of the top tools available so that you can select the best one for your testing project.
What is Visual Regression Testing?
Visual regression testing is a form of regression testing that ensures program changes don’t negatively impact the Graphical User Interface (GUI). This testing technique is also known as visual validation testing. Instead of checking the software’s functionality, it focuses on validating its aesthetic aspects.
This testing method ensures that all visual elements, such as buttons, menus, icons, text, and fields, are correctly displayed across various browsers, devices, and platforms. Notably, visual testing differs significantly from functional testing, where the emphasis is on whether the application works. A robust visual regression testing process assures QA teams that users will have an excellent visual experience across different screen resolutions.
Benefits of Visual Regression Testing
Visual testing is a pivotal aspect of software testing, delving into the intricacies of an application’s user interface and experience. It ensures the software not only functions correctly but also presents an impeccable visual display across diverse devices and platforms. Here are a few benefits that visual testing provides:
- Enhanced Usability: Visual testing ensures that the application’s layout, fonts, and images are displayed correctly, contributing to improved usability.
- Increased User Satisfaction: By detecting issues such as layout inconsistencies and broken images, visual testing enhances the overall user experience, leading to greater user satisfaction.
- Brand Loyalty Enhancement: Ensuring a visually flawless application contributes to brand loyalty, as users are more likely to engage with and trust consistently well-presented software.
- Quicker Test Script Creation: Automated visual tests eliminate the need for tedious assertion code, accelerating the creation of test scripts for pages or regions.
Best Platforms for Visual Regression Testing
Uncover the best visual regression testing tools, seamlessly combining simplicity and powerful features for developers and QA teams.
1. TestGrid
TestGrid is a groundbreaking platform that effortlessly performs powerful visual regression testing. Its AI-powered features ensure flawless testing experiences. It allows users to test changes in their mobile apps and websites without the hassle of writing complex code or relying on multiple tools.
Features:
- No need to use other tools; with TestGrid you can streamline your visual regression testing with ease.
- Insert just two lines of code, and let AI take care of the rest for your automation tests.
- Get instant visual testing comparisons with baseline and subsequent tests.
- Validates every element, from text to images and layouts.
- Monitor interfaces diligently, ensuring bug-free production.
- Beyond functional testing, verify your app or website’s flawless appearance on any device.
- Simple user interface that allows even testers without programming knowledge to execute tests with ease
- Test your apps across hundreds of real devices and browsers in a secure cloud infrastructure
2. Katalon
Katalon stands out as a visual testing tool in the market. Built on the robust foundations of Appium and Selenium, it seamlessly integrates functional and visual testing in a singular platform.
Features:
- Access to on-cloud test environments for comprehensive testing.
- Benefit from self-healing features that automatically maintain automated visual tests.
- Test across a diverse range of devices and browsers.
- Generate detailed analytics and reports post-testing for informed decision-making.
3. Kobiton
Kobiton’s Visual Testing solution emerges as an all-encompassing tool for mobile testing, boasting a user-friendly interface without the need for complex setup or integration.
Features:
- Benefit from AI-driven remediation and receive recommendations.
- Easily incorporate parameters and datasets into scriptless tests for automatic execution with AI.
- Compare your UI and UX design with leading apps in the same market for valuable insights.
- Lets you capture screenshots of each screen and action performed during functional testing that can be used as baseline images
4. Percy (from BrowserStack)
Percy is a stellar visual regression testing solution integrated into the BrowserStack suite. This advanced tool goes beyond the basics, offering smart comparisons and grouping of visual changes while prioritizing the most noticeable visual regressions.
Features:
- Allows for a more tailored and focused visual testing approach.
- Integrate seamlessly into existing CI/CD workflows.
- Utilize the comment and notification feature to keep teams informed.
- Ensures compatibility and ease of integration with your existing frameworks.
5. LambdaTest
LambdaTest is an innovative platform that effortlessly pinpoints even the minutest visual bugs. By uploading screenshots of the baseline and comparison images, LambdaTest’s AI engine takes charge of the entire process.
Features:
- Detect visual bugs related to Icon size, padding, color, layout, text, and element positions.
- Choose from a vast pool of numerous real browsers and operating systems.
- Benefit from parallel testing capabilities.
- Enjoy seamless integration possibilities.
Conclusion
The journey through visual regression testing tools underscores the importance of not only functional correctness but also the visual appeal of applications. As we embrace these tools, we empower ourselves to create software that not only works seamlessly but also looks impeccable across diverse devices and platforms.
Elevate your testing game with TestGrid, a codeless automation platform that ensures your users experience the perfection they deserve. It stands out as a revolutionary platform, seamlessly combining robust visual regression testing with AI features. It simplifies the testing procedure, guaranteeing flawless visual comparisons and production free of bugs and errors.
