Axe-core at 3 billion: A milestone in the movement for digital accessibility
Deque has been in business for over 20 years, continuously serving the cause of digital accessibility. In that time, we’ve enjoyed some pretty remarkable milestones. But today’s news is something a little extra special.
I’m proud to share that axe-core has surpassed 3 billion downloads!
This news comes at a time when we are seeing unprecedented momentum for digital accessibility across the globe, most recently with the European Accessibility Act (EAA) coming into effect just weeks ago.
We’ve always believed that digital accessibility is a community effort, and we want to take this opportunity to thank our global community of accessibility champions. Every single one of those 3 billion downloads is an act of commitment from someone who believes, as we do, that digital accessibility is a human right.
It’s why we made axe-core open source in the first place, because we know that success in this mission is achieved together.
I feel a strong personal connection to axe-core, and to everyone using it. Axe-core is uniquely symbolic of Deque’s approach and how we devote ourselves to advancing digital accessibility. There are many ways to be an accessibility champion. As a software company, we tackle digital accessibility as engineers, developers, and technologists. At the same time, we are using technology to address very real human issues. Axe-core embodies this approach.
Axe-core also exemplifies foundational principles for Deque. We are committed to zero false positives, because you can’t build momentum without accuracy. And we are committed to democratizing digital accessibility by making it easy for everyone to build accessibly from the start, without specialized expertise being required. This is the only way we can keep pace with modern, AI-powered content production.
It’s been a decade since we open-sourced this technology. I wrote at the time that automated accessibility testing results must be “easy to understand, extend, and integrate.” This still applies. For digital accessibility to be universal, it must be easy.
It’s traditional to invite the community to celebrate a milestone—but in this case, the milestone is the celebration. We wouldn’t be here today if you hadn’t joined the mission.
On behalf of everyone at Deque, 3 billion thank-yous to you all!
