Snap Carousel — Block Style for WordPress Plugin Directory

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.

Snap Carousel takes a different approach: CSS scroll-snap does the scrolling, proper ARIA attributes do the rest. No JavaScript library, no configuration panel, no learning curve — just a block style to apply in one click.

Built by WeAre[WP], a WordPress agency specializing in accessible websites and RGAA audits. This plugin exists because we needed a carousel that actually passes our own audits.

Supported blocks Apply any of the 4 carousel styles to:

Group block (core/group) — any child blocks become slides

Query Loop block (core/query) — posts scroll as carousel slides

Gallery block (core/gallery) — images scroll as carousel slides

Variants

Carousel (3 items) — 3 visible items + peek

Carousel (1 item) — full-width slideshow

Carousel (2 items) — 2 visible items + peek

Carousel (4 items) — 4 visible items + peek

Features

100% CSS scroll-snap — no Slick, no Swiper, no jQuery

Prev/next navigation buttons

Keyboard navigation (Arrow keys, Home, End)

Full ARIA attributes (role=”region”, aria-roledescription, aria-live)

Peek effect: partial visibility of the next item, signaling scrollable content

Responsive (auto tablet/mobile adaptation)

Respects prefers-reduced-motion

Works with Group, Query Loop, and Gallery blocks

Works with any child block (images, columns, groups, WooCommerce…)

Lightweight: ~2 KB CSS + ~2 KB JS, zero external dependency

Full RTL (right-to-left) language support

Fully internationalized (i18n ready, French translation included)

Easy to customize via CSS custom properties or overrides

Accessibility (WCAG 2.2 AA)

role="region" + aria-roledescription="carousel" on the container

role="group" + aria-roledescription="slide" on each item

aria-label="X of Y" for position context

tabindex="0" for keyboard focus

aria-live="polite" to announce changes

Buttons with aria-label and aria-controls

Touch targets 44×44px minimum

Visible focus indicator

Usage With a Group block

In the editor, create a Group block

Set the group layout to Row

Add child blocks (images, groups, columns…)

In the sidebar panel → Styles → choose Carousel (3 items) (or another variant)

Publish

With a Query Loop block

Insert a Query Loop block

Configure the query (post type, filters, number of items…)

In the sidebar panel → Styles → choose a Carousel variant

Publish — posts scroll horizontally as carousel slides

With a Gallery block

Insert a Gallery block and add images

In the sidebar panel → Styles → choose a Carousel variant

Publish — images scroll horizontally as carousel slides

Navigation buttons and accessibility attributes are automatically injected on the front-end.

Customization The carousel is designed to work out of the box, but you can easily override styles in your theme’s style.css or via the WordPress Customizer > Additional CSS.

Disable the peek effect 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:

/* 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; }

Customize navigation arrows /* 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; }

Customize spacing /* Gap between items */ [class*="is-style-snap-carousel"] { gap: 2rem; }

/* Space above carousel (room for navigation) */ .snap-carousel-wrapper { padding-top: 4rem; }

Customize focus indicator /* 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; }

Use with WordPress theme.json design tokens The carousel already uses --wp--preset--color--base, --wp--preset--color--contrast and --wp--preset--color--primary tokens. You can override these per-block in theme.json or via CSS:

/* 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>

– CSS overrides flex-wrap: nowrap on the Row container to force horizontal scrolling

– Items use a slightly reduced flex-basis to create a peek effect (next item partially visible)

– Navigation buttons are positioned absolute at the top right (adjust top value for your theme)

– JS uses a 150ms debounce on scroll for button state updates and 300ms for screen reader announcements

– Compatible with WooCommerce blocks (products, etc.)

About Snap Carousel is built and maintained by WeAre[WP], 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.

Need help with your WordPress project? Get in touch.