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.

Snap Carousel — Block Style