Testing Locale-Aware Websites in Automated Test Scripts

A Simple and Practical Tip for Localisation Testing

Some websites are locale-aware, meaning they display content based on the user’s region or language settings. Let me illustrate with an example website.

1. Visit test server #2 on a machine configured with the Australia region (language: English).

2. Visit test server #1 on a machine configured with the China region (language: Simplified Chinese).

See my other article on setting your browser’s language.

A Typical Way to Make Automated E2E Test Scripts Work for All Locales.

This solution is NOT to use a locator referencing the text, e.g. :text, or placeholder attributes. Rather, using :id, :name attributes.

Playwright testers might find this is against its recommended style:

await page.getByLabel('User Name').fill('John');
await page.getByLabel('Password').fill('secret-password');
await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Sign in' }).click();