Voxco Online, the web survey module of Voxco, is a dedicated survey system in SurveyTester. A project set to Voxco (or to Automatic) recognises a Voxco web survey the moment the browser extension opens it: every page with its questions, answer options, grid rows, open fields and "don't know" boxes, and the message at the end. From there everything else in SurveyTester works as usual - Auto Answer, Auto Complete, SurveyBots, test cases, issues and the Pages & Routing overview.
This article is about Voxco web surveys that respondents fill in themselves. Telephone interviews run by an interviewer in Voxco Interviewer Web are covered in Testing Voxco CATI surveys.
What a Voxco Online survey looks like to a tester
A Voxco Online survey shows one or more questions per page with Next and, where the survey allows it, Back buttons at the bottom. Answer options are drawn as styled tiles, lists and stars instead of plain browser controls. When an answer is missing or invalid, Voxco shows a message under the question and stays on the page. At the end the survey shows a closing message.
Why this is hard to test without SurveyTester
- Styled controls. Radio buttons, check boxes and dropdown lists are custom elements that only look like the browser's own controls. SurveyTester reads their state and clicks them the way a respondent does.
- Grids with mixed cells. A Voxco grid row can hold radio buttons, check boxes, stars, a dropdown or a number field. SurveyTester records every cell type in the order the row shows it.
- "Don't know" next to open fields. Text, number and date questions often carry a "don't know" or "prefer not to say" box. SurveyTester records it with the field, so a test case can choose it on purpose.
- Images instead of words. Card sorts often show pictures on the cards. SurveyTester records each card, named after the card in the questionnaire, with the picture as its label.
Supported question types
| Voxco question type | How SurveyTester records it |
|---|---|
| Single choice, also with an "other, please specify" field | One option is chosen; the text field of an "other" option is filled in. |
| Multiple choice | Several options are ticked. |
| Dropdown list | One entry is chosen. |
| NPS (0 to 10) | One value from 0 to 10 is chosen. |
| Open text and e-mail field | A fitting text or an e-mail address is entered. |
| Number field | A number is entered, within the field's minimum and maximum when the survey sets them. |
| Date field | A date is entered and the date picker is closed. |
| Slider | The slider is set to a value on its scale. |
| Grid (one or several answers per row), also as star rating | Every row is answered with its scale points or stars. |
| Grid with dropdowns, number or text fields per row | Every cell of a row gets its own answer. |
| Card sort (drag cards into groups) | Every card is placed in one group. |
| Text without a question | Recorded as information with nothing to answer. |
Errors and end page
- Error messages. When Voxco refuses to move on, the message under a question is stored as the error of that question.
- End page. The closing message is recorded as the last step of the run. Complete, screenout and quota outcomes are configured as for any other survey system, with survey end page identifiers on the project. See Survey end pages.
Step by step
- Create the project. Choose Voxco as the survey system, or leave it at Automatic - the survey is recognised either way. Paste the survey link.
- Start a test run from the project with the SurveyTester browser extension, or let SurveyBots run the survey. The SurveyTester bar appears above it, and the first page is recorded as step 1.
- Answer the survey by hand, or press Auto Answer and Auto Next to let SurveyTester fill the page and move on. Each page creates the next step.
- Check the result on the Pages & Routing page: every page appears with its questions, every question with its answer options, rows and scale points.
Good to know
- Question names. SurveyTester uses the question names from the Voxco questionnaire, so results line up with the questionnaire and stay the same in every language. A page carries the name of its first question.
- Older Voxco web surveys. Surveys in Voxco's older, classic web layout are recognised automatically as well.
- Voxco CATI. Interviewer Web, with its logon, project selection and CATI menu, is a different setup. See Testing Voxco CATI surveys.
- Custom layouts. Surveys with their own scripted designs may contain elements that SurveyTester records but cannot answer automatically. If you find a page that SurveyTester does not read correctly, please send it to us.