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

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 ready”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 5 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

One Accessibility – WordPress Accessibility Plugin & ADA Compliance Widget shows at wp.org #15 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 300+ 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

Max Mega Menu places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 882 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. 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 2 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Accessibility Widget by OneTap – Easy One-Click Accessibility Toolbar 60K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Page Builder by SiteOrigin 400K+ · 4.8★ (1005) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #6 ↑2 7 SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #7 ↑3 8 Element Pack Addons for Elementor – MCP & AI-Ready Elementor Widgets, Elementor Templates, Elementor Addons 100K+ · 4.7★ (284) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too low 10 Dark Mode – Improve Accessibility with AI Powered Dark Theme 20K+ · 4.5★ (391) wp.org #13 ↑1 3 too low 11 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #17 ↑2 6 too low 12 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 Accessibility New Window Warnings 1K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #8 ↓2 5 too high 14 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #22 ↓2 8 too low 15 Text To Speech TTS Accessibility 4K+ · 4.8★ (92) wp.org #20 ↑1 5 too low 16 Accessibility Font Resizer 800+ · 4.0★ (13) wp.org #10 ↓1 6 too high 17 Accessibility 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #9 ↓2 8 too high 18 Real Accessibility: Accessibility Widget & Toolbar 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #16 ↑2 2 too high 19 Icon Separator 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #19 ↓7 20 EU AI Act Ready 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 ↑1 8 too high 21 Serious Slider 20K+ · 3.4★ (8) wp.org #21 ↑1 22 Open Accessibility 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too high 23 Accessibility Enabler 300+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #23 24 One Accessibility – WordPress Accessibility Plugin & ADA Compliance Widget 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↑1 9 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.