Cards & Sections 2.0 is here, and it’s the biggest update since launch. A new block, a shared video control system, full accessibility preference support, and a handful of improvements that make the whole plugin feel more cohesive. Here’s what’s new.
A brand new block: Video Card
The headliner. Video Card is a dedicated video background block with built-in playback controls — play, pause, replay — wrapped in a progress ring that gives users real feedback on where they are in the clip. It supports poster images, overlay color controls, aspect ratio settings, and automatic contrast detection that keeps the controls legible regardless of what’s behind them. You also get the full video settings panel: autoplay, loop, muted, and play inline. All playback controls are user-accessible, not locked to a single behavior.
If you’ve been hacking video backgrounds together with other blocks, this is what you actually wanted.
Video settings come to Media Card, Media Section, and Curtain Raiser
Video support isn’t just for the new block. Media Card, Media Section, and Curtain Raiser all got the same playback button treatment in 2.0. Media Card and Media Section add the full settings panel — autoplay, loop, muted, play inline — so you can tune video behavior per block without touching any code. Curtain Raiser gets the playback button too, with contrast detection to keep it visible against whatever’s in either layer. Curtain Raiser’s video behavior is intentionally enforced rather than left open — it’s a cinematic block and it should feel that way.
Accessibility built in, not bolted on
This one matters. Cards & Sections 2.0 is built to respond to system-level accessibility preferences. When a visitor has reduced motion enabled, animations and video autoplay are suppressed across all blocks. Reduced transparency adjusts overlays on Curtain Raiser. Interactive layers on Card Reveal and Media Card respond to keyboard focus, not just hover. Decorative backgrounds are marked presentational so screen readers can skip them. Card Reveal also falls back to a touch-friendly layout with content always visible when reduced motion is active.
No plugin settings to hunt down — it’s designed to respond to what the visitor’s system is already telling it.
Under the hood
The build system is consolidated, animations are rewritten to use the Interactivity API (replacing individual GSAP files), and the Media Content Split responsive behavior now matches between editor and frontend. Block deprecation handlers are in place for Curtain Raiser, Media Card, and Media Section to support existing content through the update. Output escaping and input sanitization are improved across the board.
Ready to build?
Cards & Sections 2.0 is available now. Existing license holders can update through their account. New to the plugin? See what it can do →