What is all this website testing that you see in your milestones?
Well, it's important stuff and your website can't be built before the testing is completed. Well, it could, but that's a pretty amateurish way of going about things.
Before we build your site, we create a master page which forms the basis of the entire site. (Sites often have more than one master, but for the sake of this rant, we'll refer to just the one).
Bearing in mind that your master page forms the basis of EVERY PAGE on your site, you'll agree that it has to be right. So what are these tests?
Section 508 testing: Your website has to be accessible to all. That includes people who are browsing without images (people with poor wifi connects for example), handicapped people (physically, visually and those with cognitive difficulties). The section 508 testing ensures that your website can be navigated, used and understood by all.
Color testing: Many people, mostly male, have varying degrees of color blindness. Some people have temporary color deficiencies. (Did you know that it's common for flu to affect color vision?) As we age, we see colors differently too. A three year old sees colors in a different way to an eighty-three year old. If your site isn't tested for color, there are many people who just won't be able to navigate your site.
Browser testing: People use many different browser/platform combinations to view the web. Some people use hand-held devices such as iPhones. Will your site work properly for everyone? We test your site on over eighty different browser/platform combinations.
Speed testing: If your site takes too long to load, people will leave it and go elsewhere. Simple as that.
So let's say that there's a problem on your master page. What would you rather have? Us spend three or four days performing our tests? Or us spending several weeks rebuilding your site because we have gone ahead and created it without performing the necessary tests?
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