Web application "experience" management service provider Gomez, Inc., just introduced a free Web-based tool that automatically tests how Web sites look in four commonly-used combinations of browsers and operating systems. After entering a URL, the free Gomez tool returns screen captures of the Web page in each browser/OS combination, revealing content-rendering issues such as missing graphics, function buttons or text. The Gomez Cross-Browser Compatibility Test can be accessed at: http://instanttest.gomez.com

New popular Browsers like Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer 8 and Google Chrome use a lot of client-side processing and have different ways of handling dynamic content such as JavaScript than their prior counterparts, increasing the risk of performance issues for Web pages and transactions. Testing Web application compatibility across every browser type, version and OS however can be time-consuming and expensive, but it's an increasingly important practice you must engage in. While few organizations have the infrastructure or resources to build and maintain their own testing environment, a free tool like that provided by Gomez’s will help identify content-rendering issues.

“Web pages can look and perform differently from one browser to another,” said Eric Schurr, Gomez’s SVP of Marketing. “In today’s economy, businesses can’t afford to risk losing even one customer or one dollar of revenue because their Web applications don’t work properly on a browser or mobile device. Gomez’s Cross-Browser Compatibility Test reduces this risk while also saving time and money.”