Top 5 Browser Add-Ons for Quality Assurance

As a Quality Assurance Engineer Co-op, I use tons of browser add-ons to assist me in my day-to-day tasks. But with so many different browser add-ons to choose from, it's very time consuming and inefficient to go through and try out every single one that looks useful and/or interesting. So today, I'm here to give my personal list of top 5 browser add-ons for Quality Assurance. These add-ons either provide additional functionalities on their respective browsers, or make tedious and time consuming tasks much simpler. Without further ado, let's get started.

1. JIRA Capture:  

The first one on the list is JIRA Capture. JIRA Capture allows its users to quickly create issues directly in JIRA, without leaving the current web application or switching in between browser tabs. When creating a issue through JIRA Capture, the user is able to edit the same fields that are also present when creating issues through JIRA's web interface. JIRA Capture also has the capability to quickly attach screenshots to the issue that is being created, this allows us to create bug issues with much better detail and speed. JIRA Capture is available on Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Internet Explorer.

2. Window Resizer:  

Part of my responsibility as a Quality Assurance Engineer is to test web applications on different window sizes to make sure that the web applications' layout and behaviour remains the same regardless of its window size. Window Resizer allows its users to quickly and precisely change the browser window size into commonly used ones such as small desktop, tablet, ultrabook, netbook, etc. Users can also make custom browser window sizes that can be used later on. Window Resizer is available on Chrome.

3. Responsive Web Design Tester:  

Similar to testing web applications on different browser window sizes, we also need to test on different devices to ensure layout and behaviour consistency. Responsive Web Design Tester allows its users to turn web browsers into commonly used devices for testing. Users can select options such as iPhones, HTC phones, Blackberry, iPads and Nexus phones, and the add-on will use the correct size and user-agent to display the web application. This is extremely useful when no physical devices are available for testing, or when non-extensive testing is needed on those devices. Responsive Web Design Tester is available on Chrome and Opera.

4. Perfect Pixel:  

Perfect Pixel gives QA engineers and developers the ability to verify whether intended design has been correctly implemented. Perfect Pixel allows its users to overlay as many as the user wants, and design images on top of the browser window with editable opacity. QA engineers and developers no longer need to go back and forth between the design and the web application when testing aspects such as layout or graphics. It also allows for more precise comparison. Perfect Pixel is available on Chrome, with other browsers under development.

5. Selector Gadget:  

Last, but not least, is Selector Gadget. Selector Gadget is an add-on that allows its users to find the minimal CSS selector needed to identify an element. It also breaks down the website/web application's CSS into an easy to read fashion. This allows its user to easily figure out which CSS and elements to use. This functionality is especially useful for Quality Assurance because the CSS selector and elements found can be used to create automated test scripts, which leads to more efficient work. Selector Gadget is available on Chrome.