The months of May and June are incredibly busy with numerous exceptional conferences. While the program schedule and logistics planning are where event organizers are most busy and Learning enthusiasts will be busy compiling a list of conferences to attend in order to absorb as much valuable information as they can.
This year, I had the chance to take part in Nordic Testing Days (NTD), a renowned testing conference. This conference is well known for its technical in-depth discussions and wide range covering multiple facets of software testing. Sharing time and space with such brilliant brains at this fantastic conference makes me feel humble.
My in 2-hour API testing hand-on workshop was a fantastic experience, thanks to all the excited APIans. Each participant paid close attention and showed a strong desire to learn new topics. However, I also had the chance to attend and learn from other experts.
Needles in the Haystack by Lars Sjödahl
The challenge for a typical test engineer is to sift through log files to find pertinent data and sift through any unused information. Lars explained the subtleties of using regular expressions (regex) while working with large data files. He had planned the workshop so that even novice users could use regular expressions with ease.
Find the workshop Github link here
Learn how to do a search with simple regular expressions with wild card characters and also learn how you can pipe an output of one file to another. You go on to build deeper scenarios with more complex regex structures. Because of his fascination with technology and willingness to think beyond the box, Lars has a naturally curious mind.
Quality Radar – A visual team communication tool about the state of their product quality by Maik Nogens
Maik is a quality expert with a deep understanding of software quality management. In his talk he revealed challenges of the scaled teams when they have to communicate the quality metrics which most likely are single dimensional and may not speak the entire truth. Mike goes on to recommend a visual tool called “Quality Radar” a spider diagram also called radar chart.
For many years, manufacturing companies have employed spider diagrams as a part of their quality control procedures. Lean Six Sigma also recommends using this visual tool. You start by identifying quality dimensions/criteria. These could be quality attributes, performance indicators, or any other relevant factors. Determine the data points that will be measured or evaluated for each dimension/criterion. Along each axis, mark the value or level of the corresponding data point for that dimension. Analyze the resulting shape to gain insights into the quality assessment.
Reach out to Maik to learn more about the quality radar, I am sure he will be very happy to help you figure out the quality dimensions and help you with more details.
Testing without Testers by Ron Werner
Ron strikes all the right chords by asking the most controversial questions “Is testing finally dead? Has AI won the battle so testers are no longer required, and have been automated away? “. I was anticipating the typical pep talk about test engineers not giving up and guaranteeing a successful future for this position. But Ron is an accomplished speaker, and it’s obvious in his speech took me by surprise by intricately weaving his talk around establishing the “Quality mindset” right from the beginning of the implementation and not just focussing on testing after implementation.
He discussed the need to shed the mindset of “test engineers” and develop into a quality coach, which is consistent with the adage “Prevention is better than cure.” The strain and bottleneck created by the testing process can be considerably minimized if quality is baked into every step of the software development process. Ron was inspired to talk about this subject by an incident that took place at a conference way back in 2011, during which a conference participant mentioned developing a quality mentality rather than engaging in damage control.
Overall it was a very engaging talk and I loved listening to Rons take on organisations having a quality coach.
Accessibility: Quick wins to improve your quality, be inclusive and make more money by Sasirekha Palanisamy
Knowing how passionate I am about digital inclusion and how much I value accessibility, there is no way that I will avoid any forum where talks regarding accessibility take place. Sasirekha, a Diconium accessibility test specialist, addressed workshop participants about many types of human challenges and how we should take every measure to be inclusive. She made sure to remind the audience that because we are getting older, too, we will eventually depend on accessible solutions for our daily tasks.
Sasrirekha began the workshop by providing a general overview of accessibility and the range of challenges. She then introduced the audience to some of the free tools and resources that are available for use in performing accessibility testing – Googles lighthouse, accessibility emulator, WAVE and VoiceOver are some to mention.
Businesses need to start taking digital inclusion more seriously as regional restrictions governing web applications become tougher. It’s better to start working towards it rather than feel sorry and pay hefty fines. Reach out to Sasirekha (or me) for all queries regarding accessibility guidelines and testing.
Below are some resources Sasirekha shared
Chrome browser:
Funkify: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/funkify-%E2%80%93-disability-simu/ojcijjdchelkddboickefhnbdpeajdjg
Web disabilitySimulator: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/web-disability-simulator/olioanlbgbpmdlgjnnampnnlohigkjla
aXe DevTools : https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/axe-devtools-web-accessib/lhdoppojpmngadmnindnejefpokejbdd
WAVE: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/wave-evaluation-tool/jbbplnpkjmmeebjpijfedlgcdilocofh
Firefox browser:
aXe Devtools : https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/axe-devtools/
WAVE: https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/wave-accessibility-tool/
NVDA (Screen reader) :
https://www.nvaccess.org/download/
Example links for practical exercises: (Please bring your own project webpage/any other example sites to explore during our workshop)
Not accessible enough:
https://www.reserved.com/gb/en/
https://indianstorestuttgart.de/
Better accessible:
https://equalizedigital.com/
https://www.bbc.com/news
https://www.ft.com/
Final Thoughts
Attending NTD is a thrilling experience whether you are a speaker or a participant. I suggest adding this section to your list if you haven’t participated thus far. The organizational and program teams at NTD are outstanding, and from what I could tell, this conference had more than 350 attendees. Attending workshops is worthwhile since you will learn a ton and, let’s not forget, enjoy sharing space with other amazing people for three full days.
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