Check that all pages requiring SSL access are accessible only via SSL
Test the security of restricted areas
Users might share or try to guess the URLs of content and downloads in protected areas of your site. Restricted content URLs might appear within publicly available referrer logs. People might even share usernames and passwords without authorization or permission. As such, it's critical that you anticipate the kinds of security breaches that might take place, and test methods for their prevention.
Hack your Site: the Ultimate Security Test
Download popular hacking tools to use in testing, to see if your protected areas can easily be comprised. Those managing larger-scale web sites might even consider outsourcing or hiring a hacking expert for testing purposes.
Ensuring security and data integrity-especially in terms of your confidential data, including customer credit card information-is critical for promoting and maintaining trust among your site's visitors. Don't assume that your web site's security is always okay. Test regularly to make sure it remains secure.
Test forms and form controls
Check to ensure that forms are submitted correctly, and that they're only submitted when the correct information is entered and required fields have been completed. Review form error messages to ensure that they are helpful and informative within the context of the form itself.
Test online shopping facilities
If your web site includes a shopping cart or similar functionality, thoroughly test back-end operations to ensure that all transactions are secure, and everything runs smoothly.
Accessibility Testing
If you plan to make your site accessible, and include accessibility testing in every phase of your project, chances are good that by the time your site is ready to launch, it will meet the W3C's WCAG Guidelines, as well as any other accessibility guidelines that it must address.
Conducting a Preliminary Review
The W3C recommends a two-phase process for testing a site's accessibility. First, developers should conduct a preliminary review of the site that includes testing a few pages to get an idea of the site's accessibility. Then, they should undertake a thorough, comprehensive review that includes an evaluation of every web page (or representative pages on larger web sites) with a variety of tools and users who have disabilities. (W3C, Evaluating Web Sites for Accessibility, W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (November 14, 2002).) The checklist below is a guide for conducting a preliminary accessibility review.
Select a random sampling of pages to test
You should test every page of a small web site. For larger web sites, select a random sampling of pages that includes your homepage, at least one or two pages from each section, and especially important or popular pages, such as the contact page and the sitemap.
Use a graphical browser to test sample pages
Use a voice or text-only browser to test sample pages
A text-only browser, such as the free Lynx text-only browser, can provide valuable insight into your web site's accessibility.
