As Scott Hanselman has been so enthusiastic about Watir (Web Application Testing In Ruby) I thought I ought to give it a try, and have been mighty impressed. It basically allows you to "drive" IE and then query the DOM to check that all is well. Bonuses are:
  • Integrates well with Ruby unit test framework
  • Recorders are available (Scott's own, which I can't find a link for, and Watir WebRecorder for Ruby [also free]). These are pretty basic, though, and I actually prefer the "exploration" approach using irb
And to help you on your way, I've posted a helper class and module with an example over in the Code Samples section of my family website. Enjoy...