AxeWatcher Class

The AxeWatcher class is the core component of the axe Watcher Selenium Java integration, which allows you to easily add accessibility testing to your existing end-to-end test suites. This class provides methods to configure browser options and wrap WebDriver instances to enable accessibility analysis during automated testing.

When integrated into your testing framework, axe Watcher:

• Automatically analyzes web pages for accessibility problems when tests run
• Re-analyzes pages upon detection of DOM changes
• Links Git commits to accessibility results
• Sends accessibility results to axe Developer Hub for tracking and analysis

Constructor

AxeWatcher(AxeWatcherOptions options)

Creates a new instance of AxeWatcher with the specified options.

Parameters:

• options - The configuration options for axe Watcher

Example:

AxeWatcherOptions options = new AxeWatcherOptions()
    .setApiKey("your-api-key-here")
    .setServerUrl("https://axe.deque.com");

AxeWatcher watcher = new AxeWatcher(options);

Methods

configure(ChromeOptions chromeOptions)

Configures ChromeOptions to enable accessibility testing with axe Watcher.

Parameters:

• chromeOptions - The existing ChromeOptions instance to configure

Returns:

• A new ChromeOptions instance with axe Watcher configuration applied

Throws:

• IllegalArgumentException - If headless or incognito mode is enabled (axe Watcher does not support these modes)

Example:

AxeWatcherOptions options = new AxeWatcherOptions().setApiKey("your-api-key-here");
AxeWatcher watcher = new AxeWatcher(options);

ChromeOptions chromeOptions = new ChromeOptions();
// Add any additional Chrome options here
ChromeOptions configuredOptions = watcher.configure(chromeOptions);

// Now create ChromeDriver with the configured options
ChromeDriver driver = new ChromeDriver(configuredOptions);

wrapDriver(ChromeDriver chromeDriver)

Wraps a ChromeDriver instance to enable accessibility testing functionality.

Parameters:

• chromeDriver - The ChromeDriver instance to wrap

Returns:

• A wrapped WebDriver instance with accessibility testing functionality enabled

Throws:

• RuntimeException - If configure() was not called before this method

Example:

AxeWatcherOptions options = new AxeWatcherOptions().setApiKey("your-api-key-here");
AxeWatcher watcher = new AxeWatcher(options);

ChromeOptions chromeOptions = watcher.configure(new ChromeOptions());
ChromeDriver chromeDriver = new ChromeDriver(chromeOptions);

// Wrap the ChromeDriver
WebDriver driver = watcher.wrapDriver(chromeDriver);

// Now use the wrapped driver for testing
driver.get("https://example.com");

enableDebugLogger()

Enables debug logging for axe Watcher operations. This can be useful for troubleshooting issues during test development.

Returns:

• The current AxeWatcher instance for method chaining

Example:

AxeWatcherOptions options = new AxeWatcherOptions().setApiKey("your-api-key-here");
AxeWatcher watcher = new AxeWatcher(options).enableDebugLogger();

Notes and Limitations

• axe Watcher does not support full headless mode. Use --headless=new instead of --headless if you need headless operation.
• axe Watcher does not support incognito mode.
• You must call configure() before creating a ChromeDriver instance.
• You must call wrapDriver() after creating the ChromeDriver instance.
• Call flush() on the wrapped driver's axeWatcher() in your test teardown to ensure all results are sent to axe Developer Hub.

See Also

• AxeWatcherOptions
• AxeWatcherDriver
• AxeWatcherController
• ConfigurationOverrides