Documentation Testing

Documentation testing verifies that design system documentation is accurate, functional, and accessible. Testing catches issues before they reach users, improving documentation quality and reliability. Automated documentation testing enables continuous quality verification at scale.

What Is Documentation Testing

Documentation testing applies quality verification techniques to documentation content. This includes testing code examples to ensure they compile and run correctly, checking links to verify they resolve properly, validating accessibility compliance, and verifying that documentation matches actual component behavior.

Documentation testing recognizes that documentation can have bugs just like code. Broken examples, dead links, and inaccurate descriptions are documentation defects. Testing identifies these defects systematically rather than relying on user reports.

How Documentation Testing Works

Code example testing verifies documented code actually works. Tests extract code blocks from documentation, compile or run them, and verify expected behavior. This catches examples that become outdated when APIs change. Frameworks like mdx-test or custom extraction scripts enable example testing.

Link checking verifies all documentation links resolve correctly. Broken links frustrate users and undermine documentation credibility. Link checkers crawl documentation, test each link, and report failures. Regular link checking catches breaks from renamed pages or external changes.

Accessibility testing verifies documentation itself is accessible. Automated tools like axe check for common accessibility issues. Manual testing with screen readers verifies screen reader usability. Accessible documentation ensures all users can access design system information.

Key Considerations

• Code example testing catches outdated examples when APIs change
• Link checking should cover both internal and external links
• Accessibility testing should include automated and manual verification
• Testing should integrate with documentation CI/CD pipelines

Common Questions

How do teams integrate documentation testing into workflows?

Documentation testing integrates into CI/CD pipelines alongside documentation builds. Pull requests trigger test runs that verify changes do not introduce defects. Scheduled testing catches breaks from external link changes. Test failures block merges or trigger alerts depending on severity. Gradual test coverage expansion addresses existing issues while preventing new ones.

What documentation testing is most important to implement first?

Link checking typically provides highest initial value because broken links are common, detectable automatically, and clearly problematic. Code example testing provides high value but may require more setup, particularly for complex examples. Accessibility testing ensures legal compliance and inclusion. Teams should prioritize based on current documentation pain points and implementation effort.

Summary

Documentation testing verifies documentation accuracy, functionality, and accessibility. Code example testing, link checking, and accessibility testing catch defects before users encounter them. Testing integration into CI/CD pipelines enables continuous quality verification.