Show HN: Divorce – an agent skill for native HTML, verified with Nu and axe

A developer released divorce, an open-source agent skill that directs coding agents to choose native HTML elements over div-based markup and then verifies the output with the Nu HTML Checker and the axe accessibility engine. Across 5 runs of 8 tasks, the same agent using divorce produced 29% less HTML, 41% less JavaScript, 33% less ARIA and 76% fewer axe violations, though Nu errors rose to 3 of 40 pages with divorce versus 0 of 40 without. The skill installs via `npx skills add ElRaxy/divorce` for Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode, and its gate returns pass, fail or not_measured from code rather than the model, with missing evidence never counted as a pass.

End your agent's toxic relationship with div soup. 5 of 9 accessibility bugs pass both Nu and axe. divorce stops your agent from writing them. −29% HTML · −41% JavaScript · −76% axe violations , same agent with and without divorce. Numbers numbers . Watch with sound MP4 https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/assets/demo/divorce-demo-v8.mp4 · music: Bach, Prelude in C major BWV 846, Kimiko Ishizaka, CC0 Your agent writes <div onclick . Every validator says it's fine. Someone using a keyboard can't reach it. divorce makes the agent pick the native element first, then proves it with Nu and axe. npx skills add ElRaxy/divorce One line for Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot, OpenCode and more agents, via skills.sh https://skills.sh . As a Claude Code plugin: /plugin marketplace add ElRaxy/divorce /plugin install divorce@divorce Other agents and install routes: Details details . | | HTML | JavaScript | ARIA | axe violations | |---|---|---|---|---| | With divorce | −29% | −41% | −33% | −76% | Over 5 runs of 8 tasks. Nu errors: 3 of 40 pages with divorce, 0 of 40 without. Method and limits in evals https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/evals/README.md . Both of these pass the Nu HTML Checker and axe. Only one can be reached with Tab. Without divorce: <div onclick="document.getElementById 'result' .textContent = 'Saved'" Save</div With divorce: <button type="button" onclick="document.getElementById 'result' .textContent = 'Saved'" Save</button | Case | Nu | axe | |---|---|---| | Use a link for navigation https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/examples/button-link | — | — | | Use details for a disclosure https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/examples/custom-disclosure | — | — | | Use dialog for a modal task https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/examples/custom-modal | — | — | | Use a button for an action https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/examples/div-button | — | — | | Represent a list with ul and li https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/examples/div-list | — | — | | Keep heading levels in order https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/examples/heading-order | flags it | flags it moderate | | Provide an image text alternative https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/examples/image-alt | flags it | flags it critical | | Associate a label with its control https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/examples/input-label | — | flags it critical | | Follow document order for focus https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/examples/positive-tabindex | — | flags it serious | 5 of 9 pass both checkers. divorce picks the element before anything is checked. 1. Does it need to exist? If not, omit it. 2. Does the project already have it? Reuse it. 3. Is there a native HTML element for it? Use it. 4. Can CSS do it without JavaScript? 5. Does an installed dependency cover it? 6. Only then: the smallest code that works, plus a small test for logic. Then the gate checks the result: Nu on the HTML, axe on the rendered page. Code, not the model, delivers the verdict: pass , fail or not measured exit codes details . All agents, installation routes and gate commands - See the with/without evaluation https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/evals/README.md for the measurements and limits. - Case file https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/examples/manifest.json · Measured axe results https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/examples/axe-measured.json : findings and the gate policy determine the ruling. - Recorded output https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/assets/data/gate-real.json : Nu checks HTML, axe checks the rendered DOM, and missing evidence means not measured , never a pass. - Two recorded runs https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/assets/demo/replay.gif of the same modal task, same prompt and model. Use the plugin commands above in Claude Code, or run one standalone route from an existing checkout's root; validator setup is separate. - Claude, user-wide: sh install.sh --claude — Copies the skill and scripts to ~/.claude/skills/divorce/ , recording the installation. - Claude, one project: sh install.sh --claude --project DIR — Copies to DIR/.claude/skills/divorce/ . - Codex: sh install.sh --codex — Copies to ~/.codex/skills/divorce/ ; --project is Claude-only. - Other agents: sh install.sh --agents-md AGENTS.md — Appends or replaces a marked block in the instruction file. For a manual copy, copy the entire skills/divorce/ directory, including scripts, to ~/.claude/skills/divorce/ . Instruction blocks point to the gate's absolute path: keep the checkout in place. The standalone installer does not register a plugin, install validators or add an automatic gate hook; copies do not update themselves maintenance https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/docs/faq.md does-installing-it-make-the-gate-run-itself . With the served version of examples/div-button/after.html already loaded in your verification browser session: python3 skills/divorce/scripts/gate.py html examples/div-button/after.html agent-browser eval "$ python3 skills/divorce/scripts/gate.py axe-snippet " axe.json python3 skills/divorce/scripts/gate.py axe axe.json python3 skills/divorce/scripts/gate.py check --html examples/div-button/after.html --axe axe.json --axe-max-impact serious Replace the HTML input with your served URL or built file and capture genuine axe evidence from that same page and state. Outside the checkout, use the installed script path. The gate does not open a browser, run axe or refresh a capture; see all commands and flags https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/docs/how-it-works.md commands . Coverage, frameworks and maintenance A passing gate is not full WCAG conformance, a CSS or JavaScript correctness check, a performance audit or a design review. Manual keyboard, focus, interaction and visual checks remain necessary; accessibility, boundary validation and data-loss handling stay in scope. - Frameworks and served HTML https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/docs/faq.md can-react-vue-wordpresselementor-and-php-keep-the-house : React, Vue, WordPress/Elementor and PHP. - Spec versus convention https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/docs/faq.md spec-or-convention-who-gets-the-cursor : cite the spec and preserve project conventions. - Benchmark https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/evals/README.md : five runs; model grading is separate from HTML and axe measurements. - Full FAQ https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/docs/faq.md · Skill and element table https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/skills/divorce/SKILL.md 2-pick-the-element-by-what-it-does · Contributing https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md · Changelog https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md . What the verdict covers - 0: pass — The invoked check passed its configured policy. - 1: fail — HTML errors or axe violations at or above the impact threshold. - 2: not measured — Missing tools, unavailable input or unusable evidence; never a pass. Missing or invalid measurement takes priority over observed failures. Otherwise, blocking findings fail; with neither condition, the check passes. Serious and critical axe violations fail by default; lower impacts remain visible. HTML warnings do not fail. axe totals count violated rules and each rule records affected nodes. A complete gate needs HTML and axe evidence; an HTML-only pass says nothing about axe. The caller supplies evidence for the intended page: the gate does not authenticate it or prove it is current exact reasons and limits https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/docs/how-it-works.md . Runtime and validator setup - Python 3.9+ for the standalone installer; Python 3 for the gate; a shell for installation scripts. - Nu HTML Checker: VNU , vnu on PATH , or VNU JAR with Java. - Nu setup needs network access, curl , and shasum or sha1sum ; native archives also need unzip , while --jar needs Java. - A rendered page and a way to evaluate the axe snippet; it loads axe-core 4.10.2 unless that version is already present, so script loading must be allowed. sh skills/divorce/scripts/install-vnu.sh The installer verifies the download's SHA-1 and the validator's version command. Set VNU to its printed binary path or add vnu to PATH ; for --jar , set VNU JAR to the printed JAR path. The axe snippet selects WCAG 2.2 A/AA, including earlier versions, and best-practice rules. MIT https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/LICENSE ; see NOTICE https://github.com/ElRaxy/divorce/blob/main/NOTICE for third-party licenses: the decision ladder is adapted from ponytail https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail MIT , semantic HTML and modern CSS guidance from kemiljk/skills https://github.com/kemiljk/skills MIT ; Nu is MIT and axe-core is MPL-2.0, and neither validator is bundled.