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Address basics · 6 min read

Address Autocomplete Testing — What to Check Before You Ship

A QA checklist for address autocomplete: manual entry, wrong suggestions, keyboard use, and country changes.

Address autocomplete can reduce typing, but it can also hide field-order problems and make it harder to correct a wrong suggestion. Test the manual path as carefully as the suggestion path.

Test the manual path

Turn off autocomplete or ignore the suggestions. Confirm that the user can type a full address and that the validation messages still make sense.

Test the wrong suggestion

Select a suggestion in the wrong city, then correct it. Check that the old value is fully replaced and that the unit number is not lost.

Test the keyboard

Use the arrow keys, Enter, and Escape. Confirm that the list does not trap focus and that the selected value is announced to a screen reader.

Questions

Should autocomplete be required?+
No. Keep manual entry available. Some rural and international addresses will not appear in the suggestion list.
Does autocomplete validate delivery?+
No. It suggests an address; it does not prove that a carrier can deliver there.

Examples are synthetic. Do not use a generated address for identity checks, account registration, or delivery.

Reference standards

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