A mobile regression check confirms that a change has not broken an essential journey. Use the mobile design brief to choose the tasks and expected results. Record the tested page, device or browser, viewport and date.
Begin with a fresh mobile load
Load the page at the intended mobile size. Resizing an already loaded desktop page can leave advertisements or other embedded content at the original dimensions. Test both a fresh narrow load and layout changes where relevant, keeping the results distinct.
Check for unexpected horizontal scrolling, clipped text and controls outside the viewport. W3C’s reflow guidance explains the relevant accessibility requirement and exceptions. A screenshot alone does not show that the complete task can be finished.
Check header and navigation
- The site identity and menu remain easy to locate.
- Each intended menu link opens the correct destination.
- Search can be used and its results reached.
- Dynamic advertisements or notices do not obstruct controls.
- Focus remains visible when navigating with a keyboard.
Let the page finish its ordinary dynamic loading before recording the result. Avoid concluding that the menu is safe only because no ad appeared during one quick observation.
Read and follow the content
Open a representative article or product page. Resize text using the browser’s supported controls and check the reading order. Follow a relevant internal link, return and verify that the reader can continue. Check captions, tables and embedded media where present.
Compare important content with the desktop version, consistent with Google’s mobile-first guidance. Do not remove useful information simply to make the page shorter.
Complete forms and recovery paths
Use approved test details. Check labels, suitable input behaviour, validation errors and the confirmation result. Confirm that an error does not erase unrelated completed fields. For transactional pages, use the provider’s approved test mode to avoid accidental live commitments.
Record and retest failures
For each finding, note the starting page, action, expected result, actual result and owner. Include a screenshot where it helps explain the failure. Retest the affected journey after correction and record which other layouts or tasks could be affected.
Keep a concise baseline of representative journeys for future releases. Combine this functional check with keyboard and screen-reader testing; a phone layout check is not a complete accessibility audit.
