Migrating to axe DevTools for Web v4.x for Java

Axe DevTools for Web Maven v4.x is a major rewrite of the entire project. The most notable changes are summarized below, followed by more specific changes to relevant packages.

Summary

The axe-devtools-* suite of java packages, involved re-architecting the product offering from both a rebranding perspective as well as to slim down the provided integration tools to be more specific to developer experience.

With this in mind, compared to previous versions where only a single package was provided, in this version a collection of packages are provided allowing for the end-user to pick and choose what is essential & fits best with the end-users current workflow.

Environment Setup

There is no changes with the default environment requirements. The desired requirements are as below:

• Java
• Maven for dependencies

Installing axe DevTools packages

Ensure you have access to axe DevTools through one of the available options:

• Installing From A Bundle
• Installing From Your Artifact Repository
• Installing From Deque's Agora

After successful, access setup, one may install any of the below packages, by including them in the pom.xml file.

Example for the selenium package installing from Deque's Agora:

<dependency>
  <groupId>com.deque.html.axe-devtools</groupId>
  <artifactId>selenium</artifactId>
  <version>4.x.x</version>
</dependency>

The available packages are:

• Axe DevTools Selenium
• Axe DevTools Hamcrest
• Axe DevTools Cucumber

Please refer to each of the above packages, for usage instructions and detailed API documentation.

Noteworthy Changes

Asides installation and usage changes with the outlined packages, some noteworthy changes include:

• java package namespace changed from com.deque.attest to com.deque.html.axedevtools.
• The Attest class was renamed to AxeSelenium.
• The Environment variable for configuring custom rules has been changed from ATTEST_PATH to AXE_RULESET_PATH.
• The default ruleset has changed. Axe DevTools audits a given page with wcag2.1 as the default ruleset. No change is required by the end-user. If one wished to configure a different ruleset, they may use the respective clauses offered in Cucumber/ RSpec.