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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “screen reader”

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 “screen reader”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 2 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

Gravatar Enhanced – Avatars, Profiles, and Privacy shows at wp.org #8 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 100K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

HD Quiz places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 145 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 Screen Reader Accessibility – WCAG, Text-to-Speech & AI Accessibility Fixes 600+ · 4.8★ (31) wp.org #1 ↓1 1 too high 3 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #3 ↑15 4 Make Column Clickable for Elementor 100K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #4 5 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #11 ↓5 6 too low 6 WPFront Scroll Top 200K+ · 4.9★ (142) wp.org #10 ↓2 4 too low 7 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743) wp.org #12 ↑1 5 too low 8 Responsive Menu – Mobile Menu & Hamburger Menu Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (574) wp.org #13 ↓6 5 too low 9 Smooth Back To Top Button 40K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #9 ↑1 10 Hide Tooltips on Hover – Clean Up Title Attributes Without Losing Accessibility 4K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #6 ↓2 4 too high 11 HD Quiz 6K+ · 4.9★ (145) wp.org #19 ↑1 8 too low 12 Divi Carousel Lite – Make Carousels for Divi 5 30K+ · 4.8★ (146) wp.org #20 ↑1 8 too low 13 Add to Home Screen & Progressive Web App 1K+ · 3.7★ (25) wp.org #7 ↓2 6 too high 14 M Chart 3K+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #14 ↓5 15 Dark Reader – Beautiful Dark Mode for any Website 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #5 ↓2 10 too high 16 Image Alt Text 10K+ · 5.0★ (56) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 Instant Images – One-click Image Uploads from Unsplash, Openverse, Pixabay, Pexels, and Giphy 100K+ · 4.8★ (59) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 WP Attachments – Smarter File Management & Download Lists 3K+ · 4.5★ (43) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too high 19 Web Accessibility (formally known as Ally) – WCAG Scanning, Guided Fixes, Usability Widget 500K+ · 2.9★ (162) wp.org #15 ↓4 4 too high 20 WP GPX Maps 4K+ · 4.1★ (59) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 Gravatar Enhanced – Avatars, Profiles, and Privacy 100K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 ↑6 14 too high 23 Accessible Carousel & Slider – WCAG AA Compliant Slideshow 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 ↓9 24 Screen Reader Text Format 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓4 8 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.