WeAreWP

<p>Most WordPress carousel plugins load heavy libraries (Slick, Swiper, jQuery) and fail basic accessibility checks. Screen readers can’t navigate them, keyboard users are stuck, and WCAG audits flag them every time.</p>
<p>Snap Carousel takes a different approach: <strong>CSS scroll-snap does the scrolling, proper ARIA attributes do the rest.</strong> No JavaScript library, no configuration panel, no learning curve — just a block style to apply in one click.</p>
<p>Built by <a href="https://www.wearewp.pro" rel="nofollow ugc">WeAre[WP]</a>, a WordPress agency specializing in accessible websites and RGAA audits. This plugin exists because we needed a carousel that actually passes our own audits.</p>
<h4>Supported blocks</h4>
<p>Apply any of the 4 carousel styles to:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Group block</strong> (<code>core/group</code>) — any child blocks become slides</li>
<li><strong>Query Loop block</strong> (<code>core/query</code>) — posts scroll as carousel slides</li>
<li><strong>Gallery block</strong> (<code>core/gallery</code>) — images scroll as carousel slides</li>
</ul>
<h4>Variants</h4>
<ul>
<li><strong>Carousel (3 items)</strong> — 3 visible items + peek</li>
<li><strong>Carousel (1 item)</strong> — full-width slideshow</li>
<li><strong>Carousel (2 items)</strong> — 2 visible items + peek</li>
<li><strong>Carousel (4 items)</strong> — 4 visible items + peek</li>
</ul>
<h4>Features</h4>
<ul>
<li>100% CSS scroll-snap — no Slick, no Swiper, no jQuery</li>
<li>Prev/next navigation buttons</li>
<li>Keyboard navigation (Arrow keys, Home, End)</li>
<li>Full ARIA attributes (role=”region”, aria-roledescription, aria-live)</li>
<li><strong>Peek effect</strong>: partial visibility of the next item, signaling scrollable content</li>
<li>Responsive (auto tablet/mobile adaptation)</li>
<li>Respects <code>prefers-reduced-motion</code></li>
<li>Works with Group, Query Loop, and Gallery blocks</li>
<li>Works with any child block (images, columns, groups, WooCommerce…)</li>
<li>Lightweight: ~2 KB CSS + ~2 KB JS, zero external dependency</li>
<li>Full RTL (right-to-left) language support</li>
<li>Fully internationalized (i18n ready, French translation included)</li>
<li>Easy to customize via CSS custom properties or overrides</li>
</ul>
<h4>Accessibility (WCAG 2.2 AA)</h4>
<ul>
<li><code>role="region"</code> + <code>aria-roledescription="carousel"</code> on the container</li>
<li><code>role="group"</code> + <code>aria-roledescription="slide"</code> on each item</li>
<li><code>aria-label="X of Y"</code> for position context</li>
<li><code>tabindex="0"</code> for keyboard focus</li>
<li><code>aria-live="polite"</code> to announce changes</li>
<li>Buttons with <code>aria-label</code> and <code>aria-controls</code></li>
<li>Touch targets 44×44px minimum</li>
<li>Visible focus indicator</li>
</ul>
<h3>Usage</h3>
<h4>With a Group block</h4>
<ol>
<li>In the editor, create a <strong>Group</strong> block</li>
<li>Set the group layout to <strong>Row</strong></li>
<li>Add child blocks (images, groups, columns…)</li>
<li>In the sidebar panel <span aria-hidden="true" class="wp-exclude-emoji">→</span> Styles <span aria-hidden="true" class="wp-exclude-emoji">→</span> choose <strong>Carousel (3 items)</strong> (or another variant)</li>
<li>Publish</li>
</ol>
<h4>With a Query Loop block</h4>
<ol>
<li>Insert a <strong>Query Loop</strong> block</li>
<li>Configure the query (post type, filters, number of items…)</li>
<li>In the sidebar panel <span aria-hidden="true" class="wp-exclude-emoji">→</span> Styles <span aria-hidden="true" class="wp-exclude-emoji">→</span> choose a Carousel variant</li>
<li>Publish — posts scroll horizontally as carousel slides</li>
</ol>
<h4>With a Gallery block</h4>
<ol>
<li>Insert a <strong>Gallery</strong> block and add images</li>
<li>In the sidebar panel <span aria-hidden="true" class="wp-exclude-emoji">→</span> Styles <span aria-hidden="true" class="wp-exclude-emoji">→</span> choose a Carousel variant</li>
<li>Publish — images scroll horizontally as carousel slides</li>
</ol>
<p>Navigation buttons and accessibility attributes are automatically injected on the front-end.</p>
<h3>Customization</h3>
<p>The carousel is designed to work out of the box, but you can easily override styles in your theme’s <code>style.css</code> or via the WordPress Customizer > Additional CSS.</p>
<h4>Disable the peek effect</h4>
<p>By default, items are slightly narrower than the visible area so the next item “peeks” in — signaling there is more content to scroll. To disable this and show full-width items:</p>
<pre><code>/* Disable peek — 3 items variant */
.is-style-snap-carousel > * {
    flex-basis: calc(33.333% - 1rem) !important;
}

/* Disable peek — 1 item variant */
.is-style-snap-carousel-single > * {
    flex-basis: 100% !important;
}

/* Disable peek — 2 items variant */
.is-style-snap-carousel-duo > * {
    flex-basis: calc(50% - 0.75rem) !important;
}

/* Disable peek — 4 items variant */
.is-style-snap-carousel-quad > * {
    flex-basis: calc(25% - 1.125rem) !important;
}
</code></pre>
<h4>Customize navigation arrows</h4>
<pre><code>/* Arrow color and background */
.snap-carousel-prev,
.snap-carousel-next {
    background: #0073aa;
    color: #ffffff;
    border-color: #0073aa;
}

/* Arrow hover state */
.snap-carousel-prev:hover,
.snap-carousel-next:hover {
    background: #005177;
    color: #ffffff;
}

/* Arrow size (default: 44px — WCAG minimum touch target) */
.snap-carousel-prev,
.snap-carousel-next {
    width: 48px;
    height: 48px;
}

/* Square arrows instead of round */
.snap-carousel-prev,
.snap-carousel-next {
    border-radius: 8px;
}
</code></pre>
<h4>Customize spacing</h4>
<pre><code>/* Gap between items */
[class*="is-style-snap-carousel"] {
    gap: 2rem;
}

/* Space above carousel (room for navigation) */
.snap-carousel-wrapper {
    padding-top: 4rem;
}
</code></pre>
<h4>Customize focus indicator</h4>
<pre><code>/* Custom focus color for keyboard navigation */
[class*="is-style-snap-carousel"]:focus-visible {
    outline-color: #ff6600;
    outline-width: 3px;
}

.snap-carousel-prev:focus-visible,
.snap-carousel-next:focus-visible {
    outline-color: #ff6600;
}
</code></pre>
<h4>Use with WordPress theme.json design tokens</h4>
<p>The carousel already uses <code>--wp--preset--color--base</code>, <code>--wp--preset--color--contrast</code> and <code>--wp--preset--color--primary</code> tokens. You can override these per-block in theme.json or via CSS:</p>
<pre><code>/* Example: dark themed carousel */
.snap-carousel-wrapper {
    --wp--preset--color--base: #1a1a2e;
    --wp--preset--color--contrast: #e0e0e0;
    --wp--preset--color--primary: #e94560;
}<h3>Technical Notes</h3>
</code></pre>
<p>– CSS overrides <code>flex-wrap: nowrap</code> on the Row container to force horizontal scrolling<br />
– Items use a slightly reduced <code>flex-basis</code> to create a peek effect (next item partially visible)<br />
– Navigation buttons are positioned <code>absolute</code> at the top right (adjust <code>top</code> value for your theme)<br />
– JS uses a 150ms debounce on scroll for button state updates and 300ms for screen reader announcements<br />
– Compatible with WooCommerce blocks (products, etc.)</p>
<h3>About</h3>
<p>Snap Carousel is built and maintained by <a href="https://www.wearewp.pro" rel="nofollow ugc">WeAre[WP]</a>, a French WordPress agency specializing in accessible websites and RGAA compliance audits. This plugin was built to solve a real problem: every carousel plugin we audited failed basic accessibility requirements. So we built one that passes our own audits.</p>
<p>Need help with your WordPress project? <a href="https://www.wearewp.pro/contact" rel="nofollow ugc">Get in touch</a>.</p>


Snap Carousel — Block Style


Just tried the plugin on my homepage, works great overall, accessible and lightweight as advertised.



Thanks for the plugin!


The real slider revolution? 😉

Accessible carousel for Group, Query Loop & Gallery blocks. WCAG 2.2 AA, CSS scroll-snap, keyboard navigation, zero dependency.

Graham Armfield

Amy Hendrix (sabreuse)

<h4>Purpose:</h4>
<p>Many sites have dropdown menus where the expanding of the links can only be triggered by a mouse hover. This means that for keyboard only users parts of the site are harder or sometimes impossible to reach.</p>
<p>This plugin makes these dropdown menus keyboard accessible. When tabbing through the primary navigation the sub level menus will become visible and users will be able to tab to the lower level links.</p>
<p>The current version has been tested by both sighted keyboard-only users and screen reader users. If it doesn’t work for your reader, please let us know!</p>
<h4>How it Works:</h4>
<p>The plugin uses a combination of CSS and javascript to enable the dropdown menus to be keyboard controlled.</p>
<p>Using the script, whenever a link in the menu gets focus its containing list item (</p>
<li>) is given the necessary class. This enables the new CSS definitions to open any hidden submenus and bring those links into the tabbing order.</li>
<p>In the absence of javascript the full submenu lists may not open but the individual sub-links can be tabbed to.</p>
<h4>Credits:</h4>
<p>Current version built and maintained by Amy Hendrix.</p>
<p>The original version of this plugin was built by Graham Armfield. It is still available at http://www.coolfields.co.uk/2011/12/wordpress-keyboard-accessible-dropdown-menus-plugin-version-0-1/</p>
<p>The mechanism used in this plugin is based on the same logic used in Blake Haswell’s excellent example of a multi-level accessible dropdown menu. You can find it at: http://blakehaswell.com/lab/dropdown/deux/</p>


Accessible Dropdown Menus

Makes dropdown menus in many WordPress themes keyboard accessible.

Snap Carousel — Block Style vs Accessible Dropdown Menus