Applause, a world leader in testing and digital quality, today released its second annual State of Digital Quality in Europe report, a comprehensive examination of real-world testing data which identifies the most common flaws in digital experiences. The report, based on testing data spanning 70 industries and 45 countries, collected between January 1 and December 31, 2022, uncovered more than 100,000 digital quality defects. Incomplete payments, functional and digital accessibility bugs were among the most common defects to be found across digital services and devices.

The report examines key aspects of digital quality, including accessibility, localisation, and payments – areas which can greatly affect customer satisfaction and product usability. The report found that 84% of all payment bugs were functional, indicating that some part of the transaction couldn’t be completed as intended. Additionally, 30,000 accessibility bugs were also discovered with 69% of those identified as screen reader errors. Other errors were keyboard navigation problems (8%) and insufficient color contrast ratios (11%) which makes screen text unreadable for people with vision issues. Missing or poor translations accounted for 74% of the localisation errors, an increase of 8% on the previous year. Overall, functional, visual and content defects accounted for more than 65% of all bugs found.

The State of Digital Quality report is created from a representative sample from the company’s testing data, involving 14,000 individual mobile devices, 900 unique desktops and 500 OS versions to assess endless combinations of networks, browsers, payment instruments and integrations. Digital assets tested included websites, IoT devices, mobile web and mobile apps in real-world scenarios, covering digital banking, streaming media services, online shopping, smart voice assistants and more.

The extensive report notes that failing to address flaws and friction points along the customer journey often results in costly problems like shopping cart abandonment, missed conversions, customer service complaints, negative ratings, and legal issues, all which affect a company’s bottom line.

“It’s interesting that in the second year of the report, we continue to observe companies challenged by the same types of defects and digital quality issues; especially pertaining to accessibility and localization. This is why testing all code, new and existing, for all digital customer journeys is so crucial. It only takes one defect to have a negative customer experience that impacts revenue,” said Luke Damian, Chief Growth Officer for Applause.  “As new technologies and innovations continue to evolve, companies need to commit to getting it right the first time to remain competitive. That requires continued quality testing – from design through development, release and beyond,” he said.

This year’s report introduces digital quality frameworks that outline core capabilities and typical processes for organisations at different stages on the journey to excellence. The frameworks provide concrete guidance on how organisations can improve quality and efficiency across the organisation. The report recommends several best practices for accelerating development, maturing testing organisations, and increasing digital quality.