What to change
Define whether the check should accept redirects and which final destination is legitimate. Ask the supplier to show the full route used by the probe, then add an assertion that reflects the actual task. A broad availability check may intentionally follow redirects, but a specific guide check should detect when the expected resource disappears. Use a safe test route to verify that a plausible-looking fallback cannot silently satisfy the narrower requirement.
A worked example
Illustrative example
Illustrative test: A sample guide redirected home fails the guide-specific check while the homepage check remains healthy. A sample guide may be intentionally redirected to the homepage in a test environment. A broad site monitor still sees an available website, but the guide-specific check rejects the unexpected destination. The practice reviews both outcomes and their different purposes. This proves the narrower alert protects the promised resource, rather than accepting any final successful page and leaving a routing regression invisible behind a reassuring availability status.
What this means for your practice
A monitor may follow an automatic move and report success because it eventually reaches the homepage. That can conceal the disappearance of the specific guide it was meant to check. Ask your supplier to define the legitimate final destination and whether redirects are acceptable for that check. A broad availability monitor and a guide-specific monitor can have different purposes. Demonstrate a safe example that redirects to an intentionally wrong destination. The guide check should recognise the mismatch even while the homepage remains available. Your acceptance question is whether the promised resource is present, not simply whether some page on the website can be opened.
How to check the result
The alert reflects the missing intended resource rather than generic website availability.
A mistake to avoid
Accepting any successful final page can conceal routing regressions.
Turn reading into a next step
Your action checklist
Work through these checks with your team or supplier. Tick the ones you have resolved and leave unknowns open.
Record what you know, what is still missing and the answer you need from your team or supplier.
Use project decisions only, without personal, patient or confidential details. Entries stay in this page and are not submitted to Kay & Co. Copy or download before leaving; this page does not save your notes.
Further reading
These sources provide background for the topic. The practice examples and checklist are illustrative planning suggestions from Kay & Co.
Related guides
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