Simple Basic Labs

This repository contains 8 simple, beginner-friendly labs that teach fundamental web browser operations. No Azure Portal or complex tools required.

Labs Included

1. Lab 01: Open Browser and Navigate to Websites - Learn to open a browser and use the address bar to visit websites
2. Lab 02: Search on a Website - Learn how to use a website search box to find information
3. Lab 03: Open and Manage Multiple Browser Tabs - Work with multiple tabs and switch between them
4. Lab 04: Use Browser History and Navigation Buttons - Learn to use back/forward buttons and browser history
5. Lab 05: Bookmark Your Favorite Websites - Save websites for quick access later
6. Lab 06: Explore Browser Settings and Homepage - Customize your browser preferences
7. Lab 07: Download Files from the Internet - Download files from websites to your computer
8. Lab 08: Refresh and Reload Pages - Learn different ways to refresh web pages

Lab Location

All lab files are located in:

• Instructions/Labs/

Target Audience

These labs are designed for:

• UI drift detection testing (using tools like lab-drift-runner)
• QA teams testing browser consistency
• Beginners learning web browser basics
• Visual regression testing

⚠️ Important: Optimized for Stable Testing

These labs have been specifically optimized for UI drift detection by using only static, non-changing websites:

✓ Static websites used:

• example.com, example.org, example.net (completely unchanging)
• Wikipedia search structure (stable layout, searchable content)
• W3.org documentation (stable, non-dynamic)
• Browser settings pages (no dynamic content)

✓ Why this matters for lab-drift-runner:

• Same test run multiple times = same visual result
• No false positives from content changing
• Consistent page layouts
• No ads or real-time updates causing flakiness
• Reliable visual regression baseline

❌ NOT used (they cause inconsistent results):

• News sites (headlines/images change daily)
• Social media feeds (content updates constantly)
• Stock/weather dashboards (real-time data)
• Ad-heavy sites (ad rotation causes layout changes)

Permission Popup Rule

If a browser permission popup appears (Location, Notifications, Camera, or Microphone), always click Block or Not now during these labs.

This keeps test runs consistent and prevents popups from blocking page steps.

Lab Runner Note

To keep labrunner scan stable, start each lab with a browser window already open.

Avoid relying on Start menu search inside the lab steps, because some environments fall back to direct application launch when WinAppDriver is unavailable.

Estimated Completion Time

Each lab takes approximately 5 minutes, so the entire series can be completed in about 40 minutes total.

Getting Started

1. Navigate to the Instructions/Labs/ folder
2. Open any lab file (markdown format)
3. Follow the step-by-step instructions
4. Each lab is independent - you can complete them in any order

What You Will Learn

• Opening and navigating between websites
• Using search engines effectively
• Managing browser tabs and windows
• Using browser navigation controls
• Finding and downloading files
• Customizing browser settings
• Refreshing and troubleshooting pages