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Re: Automated testing tools and viewport size

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From: Patrick H. Lauke
Date: May 6, 2020 1:00PM

On 06/05/2020 18:43, Steve Green wrote:
> I never really thought about this before, but automated testing tools that use a headless browser still need to apply viewport dimensions, and this will determine which media queries are and are not applied. This raises the question of what dimensions they are using.

Yes, ideally, the tool should really run at every major breakpoint
defined in CSS, and possibly some further random samplings/common device
widths/heights. And orientations/aspect ratios.

I pointed this out a few years ago as well for tools like the Trace
Center Photosensitive Epilepsy Analysis Tool (PEAT) (which, last time I
checked, assumed/required a browser at 1024x768 in order to do its
calculations of screen area). Those tools will, essentially, only
capture one single potential state, and if they can't be modified to
work at different viewport sizes, their results will be potentially
meaningless.

P
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Patrick H. Lauke

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