Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “accessibility overlay”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “accessibility overlay”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 3 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Web Accessibility Toolkit – Accessibility Checker & ARIA for WCAG, Section 508 & ADA Compliance shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 701 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Accessibility 60K+ · 4.8★ (68) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 AccessiYes Accessibility Widget for ADA, EAA & WCAG Readiness 20K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker – WCAG, ADA, EAA and Section 508 compliance 10K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #3 4 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #8 ↑2 4 too low 5 Page Builder by SiteOrigin 400K+ · 4.8★ (1005) wp.org #18 ↓2 13 too low 6 Accessibility Tools & Alt Text Finder 3K+ · 4.9★ (69) wp.org #10 ↑1 4 too low 7 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #20 ↓3 12 too low 9 Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #23 14 too low 10 Unlimited Elements for Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (525) wp.org #21 11 too low 11 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 SOGO Accessibility 5K+ · 4.1★ (8) wp.org #4 8 too high 13 Screen Reader Accessibility – WCAG, Text-to-Speech & AI Accessibility Fixes 600+ · 4.8★ (31) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 Editoria11y Accessibility Checker 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #5 ↑1 9 too high 15 WP Swiper 4K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #15 ↓1 16 Accessibility Tool Kit: WP Accessibility checker plugin for WCAG, Section 508, ADA, EAA Compliance 1K+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #6 ↓1 10 too high 17 Accessibility by AllAccessible 2K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #9 ↓1 8 too high 18 Darklup – Enhanced WordPress Dark Mode, Dark Theme, Night Mode & Accessibility Plugin 1K+ · 4.5★ (44) wp.org #14 ↓2 4 too high 19 Image Gallery 3K+ · 4.4★ (32) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Accessibility by AudioEye 2K+ · 3.3★ (7) wp.org #11 ↓2 9 too high 21 Web Accessibility Toolkit – Accessibility Checker & ARIA for WCAG, Section 508 & ADA Compliance 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 14 too high 22 Accessibility Guard 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓4 3 too high 23 DSGN Accessibility Audit and Statement 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↑2 7 too high 24 Libration Accessibility Widget, Checker and Real Code Fixes – WCAG and EAA 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↑3 7 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.