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10Nov

What is Accessibility Testing: An Introduction

With most services becoming digitized, the dependency on mobile applications and online services is growing. It used to be the case that we would have traditional alternatives to compensate for the lack of availability of a digital medium. But even the most basic services are becoming solely available through digital means. Taking this level of dependency into consideration, we must think about and put in mind the various and diverse nature of users-Abled and Disabled- And with that notion in mind, Q-Pros believes that all software applications must be accessible and available for usage for all users, and we set out to make sure that everyone has the right to an efficient digital experience. In this article, we will discuss a software testing type called Accessibility Testing, what it means and how we do it. Why is it Important to Test Accessibility? Based on statistics published by the world bank, 15% of the planet’s population undergo some sort of disability, which amounts to over one billion people. For that reason alone, we really must take accessibility seriously to make sure our applications and digital services in general are usable by all people regardless of capability. Types of Disabilities Physical Disability - The type of disability that affects people's ability to interact with applications on a hardware level. Cognitive Disabilities - The type of disability that involves having difficulties in understanding and expressing, as well as having a poor memory. This leaves the user incapable of performing basic tasks. Eyesight Disabilities - This Involves visual impairments or blindness. Hearing Disabilities - The incapacity to hear, whether partially hearing aids or complete deafness. Temporary Disabilities - A disability caused by accidents or environmental conditions. How to Perform Accessibility Testing? The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has determined a set of guidelines called (The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)) which most organizations must follow to make their applications compatible and accessible to people with special needs. These guidelines should be followed through each phase of the SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle) and be listed in Non-Functional Testing Practices. Physical Disability The criteria to overcome physical disability challenges through accessibility testing are as follows: Making sure to have an efficient keyboard option for people with speech impediments Testing voice recognition software Applications should offer an option for human help that can be requested easily by people with special needs Testing the applications while using special hardware that is manufactured for people with motor disabilities Cognitive Disability Make sure the applications are simple and not too complicated to use Make sure to have clear menus that users can easily choose from to reach certain places and take advantage of all services Having media components such as images and graphs to make sure to explain the context of the application Make it clear that the application offers help options, including that of human contact Take the user’s journey to complete an action and make sure there were no limiting or distracting factors throughout the usage Eye-sight Disability Make sure to have text to audio option and testing its efficiency Make sure to include magnifiers Making sure that the fonts used are compliant with WAI standards for clarity Having a filter that takes into consideration people with color blindness Hearing Disability Having an alert system that can function without the need for sound, visual, or vibration alerts Making sure to include sign language options for essential services Audio-to-text option Accessibility Testing Tools To align all the disabilities with WC3 standards and validate the success of the testing process we rely on multiple tools some of which are open-source and available for all users. Some of the most prominent tools used to achieve accessibly compliance are: Screen Readers Screen readers will give a detailed narration of everything on a web page. This includes texts, links, images, buttons, etc. Here are some screen readers you can use to leverage accessibly in an application: IE and Chrome: JAWS (Job Access With Speech) Safari: Voice Over iPhone: Voice Over Android: Talkback Color Contrast Analyzer (CCA) Color Contrast Analyzer helps in establishing a contrast between foreground and background colors, enhancing clarity, and making things easier for people with sight disabilities and all users in general. Screen Magnification People with limited vision have a tough time reading text at certain sizes, which is why it is important to have an option where users can magnify them to have a clearer UI/UX. Some of the tools we could use to magnify screens are: Magnifier App in Windows Zoom option in macOS Speech Recognition Tools Speech recognition tools are used to transfer audio commands by users to applications. These commands could include data entry/input, buttons, opening the applications, and other actions. Good tools to use for speech recognition are: Windows Speech Recognition Apple Dictation Dragon Axe Browser Plugin Axe scans web pages to validate compliance with WCAG 2 (Web Content Guidelines 2) and reports any violations. Axe is a plugin for Chrome and Firefox. The Axe-Chrome extension is an open-source JavaScript library. In Conclusion It is without a doubt essential to even the plain view for all users regardless of disabilities. The foundation of Quality Assurance and Software Testing has always been to eliminate the possibility of bugs and defects, and up the quality level of applications overall, the latter can only be achieved by putting people with disabilities at the top of our lists to validate the success of any testing project. Accessibility Testing results in giving equal rights in the digital world and helps us include as many users as possible. Q-Pros is a Testing service provider with years of experience pioneering in the field. Learn more about Software Testing and get to know more about us. ...

09Nov

The Difference Between Component Testing and Unit Testing

by q-pros

in QA Comparisons

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Understanding the hierarchy of testing is elementary for QA practices, it helps us keep all activities coordinated with one another and stabilize what could be a long and tedious procedure. For that reason, we at Q-Pros have established a constructive approach for software testing to make sure our clients get guaranteed results. look at the differences between Component Testing and Unit Testing and identify the specific comparing basis to distinguish the two essential levels of testing. To begin with, we will start by identifying each method individually. What is Unit Testing? Unit testing is a software testing method which takes every unit of code into consideration for testing, to make sure that all code-sets are appropriate based on requirements and standard suitability before stepping further with the code building. Computer data is examined to check if it fits or not. This is done to completely avoid any future errors that may become hard to detect if not dealt with sooner. Unit testing is done by the developers, and it comes first in the hierarchy of testing levels. What are the testing levels for software systems? Unit testing: Unit testing takes top priority before stepping further into code. Integration testing: Modules are combined and evaluated as one with specified functional requirements. System testing: In system testing, we take all the integrated components that passed the test as input. Acceptance testing: Finally, we measure the degree to which the application has met the user’s approval. In Unit testing, the word “Unit” means every element within the application that could be tested during the development stage. What is Component Testing? Component testing also referred to as module or program testing, is a test where each component of the system is tested individually without looking at integration in-between other components. Each component receives an input, and then the data should be processed through the system and produce an output. This output will be examined based on requirements separately. The main objective of this type of testing is to make sure that all components within a system are user-understandable and can be used individually. Component testing is usually done by a developer before creating a new component. Developers can choose to move to build a new component once all identified defects are fixed in a previous one. Developers use this method to examine testing objects without integration, meaning that testing objects are tested separately from the whole design or any other components or modules. The Differences between Component Testing and Unit Testing After we have defined the two types, we can now start to look at each in comparison to the other to get a further understanding of how we can relate them in an overall testing strategy. We will now look at key factors to differentiate the two kinds distinctly: Comparing Factor Unit testing Component testing Execution Unit testing is processed by the developers in the initial stages Component testing is performed by a team of testing engineers using various testing tools. Method used White-box testing: Testing the application with knowledge of internal structures. Black-box testing: Testing the application with little to no internal knowledge of its code. Validation Validates the efficiency and accuracy of the design documents Uses test cases and validates specific components. Detecting error Unit testing detects errors more easily. Component testing detects errors with more complexity than unit testing. Level of Testing Unit testing is performed at a granular level. Component testing is performed at the application level. Component Testing and Unit Testing are fairly related, both require a level of segregation from the overall system. Component testing is done on an application level by testing experts, On the other hand, unit testing is done on an agranular level by developers. It is also worth highlighting that component testing can only be done after unit testing. Q-Pros Constant updates require constant testing. Before launching any application, requirements should be set and met. Q-Pros is a leading testing service provider with years of experience in accomplishing just that. To know more about our testing approaches and to request a customized testing service, visit our online service request page now. https://q-pros.com/online-test-request/ ...

03Nov

What is Security Testing? Definition & Methodologies

by q-pros

in Types of Testing

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One of the most important properties of software is security. This varies in broader terms to include multiple aspects, from financial information to personal information and data storage, and for those reasons, security must be taken seriously. In this article, we will define security testing, investigate its several types, and how we at Q-Pros approach security testing in the scope of software testing and QA. What is Security Testing? Security testing is a type of software testing that focuses on revealing any potential vulnerabilities and weaknesses concerning security aspects, including data loss from deliberate attacks or system errors. The goal of security testing is to conduct friendly fire on the system to make sure it is set and ready for real-time action and possible failures and survive such scenarios without harming sensitive attributes. Any system that deals with authentication-based activities (Accounts, subscriptions ...

27Oct

QA Roles: What is a QA Analyst

by q-pros

in QA Roles

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Quality Assurance (QA) involves several roles and career paths. One role that stands firmly in all QA projects is the position of QA Analyst or Test Analyst. In this article, we will look to define the responsibilities, mission, and objectives of QA analysts. As a leading testing services provider, Q-Pros relies on a diverse arsenal of professional experts. The QA roles series looks to supply insight into these professions and give a closer look at the grand scheme of the QA process. Definition: QA Analyst A quality analyst is a person responsible for implementing the principles and practices of quality assurance throughout the SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle) A QA analyst would look for flaws and weaknesses in programs and make certain that all requirements were fulfilled. They would implement plans to scan thousands of lines of code and inspect the system from several corners, such as functionality, interface, user-friendliness, and much more. The role of QA Analyst comes at the final stages of SDLC just before public release. They would also make sure that the software fits the targeted market and is fully compatible. A QA Analyst or Software Analyst would hold a professional certificate from a software testing certification board, such as the International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB). The QA field in general requires a set of skills related to problem-solving and attention to detail, a skill set that is ever so emanant with QA analysts. As the job title describes, QA analysts must be analytical and exact to ensure bug-free/defect-free systems. QA Analyst Daily Roles Quality Analysts have many duties depending on the organization and project where they are stationed, but the role mainly centers around sealing the deal before releasing the product to customers/users. Here is a set of duties expected from QA analysts: Creating efficient test plans Implementing the test plans to ensure the three main aspects of quality: functionality, performance, and reliability Track and report bugs establishing a criterion to prevent future bugs and crashes in the system Ensuring layout correctness and assessing proper formatting for all aspects of interface and user experience Some roles might include conducting localization tests and compatibility checks Leading the testing team through a swift and clear path throughout the whole QA procedure. This task includes knowledge of project development methodologies such as Agile and Waterfall. Most QA jobs require a good knowledge of programming languages, that is because testing engineers need to be able to design plans that deal with code corrections and scans. It also helps the testing experts understand how systems work. QA analysts have the responsibility to be extensively experienced with multiple programming languages and dealing with various operating systems. How to Become a Quality Assurance Analyst? For starters, the minimum qualification for testing analysts is a bachelor’s degree in an IT-related field, and preferably a specific major related to software development and quality. QA analysts in many cases, even on a junior level, are required to have prior experience in QA and software testing in general. Most companies hold the QA analyst’s role with high regard in terms of accountability and proficiency, this is because the nature of the job is incredibly detailed oriented. Most QA analysts end up becoming quality managers and would hold senior positions in QA companies, this is because the nature of the job involves being present in and cooperating with multiple channels and sectors throughout the entire project duration. To become a QA analyst, here is a list of several characteristics and skills needed: Good programming knowledge Broad knowledge of a variety of software applications and hardware attention to details and the ability to think on a larger scope creativity and innovation in working methods communication skills the ability to utilize logical thinking in identifying the strong and weak points in any system Good knowledge of modern tools and constantly tracking the latest updates In Conclusion QA analysts are one of the most vital members of any QA team. They maintain structure and establish the foundation for other team members to work more efficiently. Being a QA analyst is a career path worth chasing if you want to get involved with more than one sector in the QA hierarchy. It guarantees experience and growth in the world of software testing. We at Q-Pros make certain that our QA projects are well equipped with professional test analysts who can inspire team members and assure perfect outcomes for our clients and end-users. Learn more about us and request a custom-made testing service via our https://q-pros.com/online-test-request/ ...

12Oct

What is The Global Star Rating System aka “7 Stars program”?

by q-pros

in software testing

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The United Arab Emirates is one pure example of thriving success. Over the years, the country has witnessed exponential growth across all fields and levels. In both Governmental and Private sections, the UAE has preserved a reputation of being a model of institutional excellence. A model that is truly worthy of following. This level of quality is achieved only through constant diligence and utter devotion, among many values that reflect wisdom in leadership and ethical thinking. This set of principles is portrayed clearly in what is called “The Global Star System for Services.” A prestigious ranking and service assessment system that empowers entities to enhance customer experience and service delivery across all channels. In this article, we will take a closer look at the 7-star program and how we at Q-Pros align our criteria to fit with such top-quality models. The Global Star Rating, Definition, and History The Global Star Rating System for Services is a service assessment model that seeks to enable institutions to better their customer's experience and services across all channels. The model intends to generate world-class services for all customers, upping the global standard for customer experience. The 7 Stars Program was created to pave the way for both private and public sectors. It looks to ease and facilitate customer engagement and preserve top-quality services with time. The Global Star Rating System (GSR) was launched by the United Arab Emirates Prime Minister in 2012, striving to increase the level of efficiency of government services. When it began, 19 service centers were part of the scheme, and in 2014, only 2 years later, that number grew to 159 centers. In the beginning, participation in the program was voluntary. The Emirati government would go about raising awareness programs and workshops to encourage entities to join. This would change later in 2015 when participation became obligatory for all government service centers. Every two years, awards are given based on an evaluation of participating institutions. “The government of the future needs to be hospitable like hotels and run 24/7 like airlines. All services need to be in one-stop shop” H.H. SHEIKH MOHAMMED BIN RASHID AL MAKTOUM WORLD GOVERNMENT SUMMIT 2013 The service delivery framework - The Global Start Rating system consists of 8 pillars used for the assessment. These pillars are supported by 35 elements and 233 questions that are assessed based on Maturity level. The star system model maturity levels are: Basic Developing Maturing Leading The Service framework consists of three main blocks: Strategy (The Why) - The entity would set out service delivery goals based on objectives and priority. Service delivery (The What) - This benefits the overall customer experience by defining the specifics of the service at hand, it also defines the channels and levels associated with the service. Enablers (The How) - To achieve the desired level of quality of service, entities need to empower themselves with a proper supporting process, organizational culture, and human capabilities, as well as information management systems. The Global Star Rating System (GSR) Focuses on 6 main Delivery Channels: Customer Happiness Centers: Cost-efficient service delivery. Digital Channels: Reaching a 7-star service satisfaction level on all access points, in-Person, Online, and via Phone. Contact Centers: Setting out towards an Ideal customer experience through training customer service agents and achieving customer satisfaction. Shared Service Center: Shared Service Centers are partnerships between different entities to achieve customer satisfaction by aligning the work and centralizing the access. Smart Service Centers: A service provided by the government to provide services via smarter and technological means, this in return guarantees a more efficient experience to a wider range of customers/users. Outsourced Service Centers: A partnership between both the public sector and the private sector to provide services for customers. Our Role at Q-Pros As a leading testing service provider and pioneer in the world of QA (Quality Assurance), we align our criteria and standards to guarantee our clients (Governmental and private) a 7-star rating. We have worked and achieved such status with our clients in the UAE for years, and we plan to grow even bigger with our clients. Quality Assurance and Software testing are key factors for both governmental and private entities' success, ensuring bug-free and defect-free software is essential for standard quality. Setting out to guarantee "World class services" the Global Star Rating system hopes to continue elevating the standard for customer experience on a global scale. The regressive effort by the UAE government is paving the way for a more global movement to scale up customer services. https://q-pros.com/online-test-request/ ...