Finding usability bugs with automated tests

Reviewer: Roy W Wilson

Using automated tests (as a complement to in-person tests) to find usability/accessibility bugs is certainly a worthy goal. Because my initial interest in this article arose from the immediate task of developing a BlackBerry (Java rather than Web-based) application, I was disappointed to discover that it focuses exclusively on Web software. (This is contrary to the broader scope suggested in its title.) Nevertheless, the author effectively argues for the importance of such testing and explains why such bugs occur. We must remember, though, that the adoption of test automation tools is sometimes inhibited by the need for more advanced technical and programming skills. In the context of Google, the author provides a relatively detailed discussion of how one can test keyboard navigation using the WebDriver (Selenium 2.0) tool. Despite the availability of a WebDriver implementation for the BlackBerry mobile platform, BlackBerry developer forums contain no reference to either WebDriver or Selenium. Whether this says more about the BlackBerry developer community or the WebDriver tool, I cannot say. In general, Web developers might find this article useful. That being said, it is too long. The inclusion of a few diagrams might have better indicated WebDriver's usability. Online Computing Reviews Service