Categories of Lighthouse Tool in Microsoft Edge

Lighthouse offers mainly 5 primary categories audits-

1. Performance

• It generally focuses on metrics like First Contentful Paint (FCP), Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), and Total Blocking Time (TBT).
• It analyzes factors that can affect the page loading speed such as scripts that blocks rendering, structure of the code and resources that optimizes the web page.
• It also provides recommendations to improve resource loading, minimizes task blocking and it also optimizes critical rendering paths.

2. Accessibility

• It assesses adherence to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) which covers a wide range of recommendations for improving Web content more accessible.
• It checks the basic elements like sufficient color contrast, keyboard accessibility proper heading structure, and alternative text for images.
• It also offers some guidance to improve the navigation for those users who have disabilities as it offers screen reader and technology for assistance.

3. Best Practices

• It covers best practices of web development for code conversion, security and SEO.
• It always looks for the issues like inefficient use of JavaScript, incomplete or missing metadata and insecure protocols.
• It also suggests way to improve website security, SEO effort optimization techniques and improve code maintainability.

4. SEO (Serach Engine Optimization)

• It analyses meta descriptions, title tags, mobile-friendliness etc. elements that influences search engine ranking.
• It checks for image optimization, missing structured data and broken lines.
• It also offers some guidance to improve the SEO on-page factors and enhances the search engine visibilities.

5. Progressive Web App (PWA)

• Fast and reliable on mobile networks and it also offers offline functionality.
• It is easily installable on multiple device types and has features like push notifications.
• PWA-optimized by redirecting HTTP traffic to HTTPS, as it configures a custom splash screen and sizes webpage content to fit on mobile screens.

LightHouse is an open-source tool that is developed by Google and is designed to analyze the quality of web pages. It was first integrated into Microsoft Edge DevTools on February 11, 2019. It is an automated tool integrated into web browsers like Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome to audit the quality of the webpage.

Lighthouse tool analyzes the page and generates a comprehensive report of the Performance, Accessibility, Best Practices, Progressive Web App (PWA) status, and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) with actionable recommendations for enhancing the overall quality of web content. This tool can be used on any type of webpage whether it is a public web page, or it is private or it requires authentication.

Lighthouse offers three primary modes to analyze the different aspects of the quality of the web pages, these modes are as follows-

1. Navigation Mode

• Navigation mode is the default mode of the Lighthouse tool.
• It analyzes a single page load from the start until it is finished.
• It focuses on performance metrics like visual stability, interactivity, and load time of the webpage.
• This mode is ideal for understanding initial page load experiences and identifying factors affecting speed.

2. Timespan Mode

• It helps to analyze an arbitrary period of time typically which involve in user interaction.
• It captures performance data for every kind of dynamic interactions like scrolling, clicking and form submissions.
• This mode is ideal for accessing user driven experiences and pinpointing performance during interactions.

3. Snapshot Mode

• It analyzes the page in its current state, without reloading.
• It has ability to captures a “snapshot” of performance, accessibility, and SEO for a specific page state.
• It is useful for auditing complex pages with dynamic content or user-driven changes, like forms or interactive elements.
• It can evaluate best practices of menus and UI elements hidden behind interaction.