Flick Carousel ARIA-HIDDEN observer

flick_aria_patch.js

class FlickPatch {  //  Flick Carousel ARIA-HIDDEN observer
    constructor(_d, _sQ) {
        this._d = _d; this._sQ = _sQ;
        this.aF = []; this.aObs = [];
    }
    init() {  //
        this.aF = Array.from( this._d.querySelectorAll( this._sQ ))
        if( this.aF.length ){
            this.aObs = []
            this.aF.forEach( ( eF )=>{
                const oObs = new MutationObserver( flickPatch.removeAttr );
                oObs.observe( eF, { attributes: true, childList: true, subtree: true } );
                this.aObs.push( oObs )
            })            
        }
        return this;
    }
    removeAttr( aObs ){  //
        if( aObs.length ){
            aObs.forEach( ( elO )=>{
                if( elO?.target ){
                    [ ... elO.target.querySelectorAll( "[aria-hidden='true']" )].forEach( ( eH )=>{
                        eH.removeAttribute("aria-hidden")
                    })
                }
            })
        }
    }
}
//. Usage
let flickPatch = {}
document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", ( ev )=>{
    setTimeout( ()=>{
        flickPatch = new FlickPatch( document, ".flickity-slider" )
        flickPatch.init()   
    }, 8e3 )
})

This might work for your use case, but I don't think it's a great general solution @TJPar.

For one, the divs won't be keyboard accessible. Even with the addition of the aria-role, someone hitting enter on a focused div won't trigger the event listener. Also, this won't support cmd+clicks to open in new tabs nor will it show the URL preview in the bottom left of the browser window on hover.

My understanding is that it is accurate for aria-hidden labels to be applied to carousel slides that are outside the viewport, and their non-interactivity to screenreaders is a feature, not a bug.

You're right. Ironically, by employing this technique to attain a 100 accessibility score in Lighthouse, it becomes less accessible. I had hoped for reduced scripting. Thanks for taking the time to review my approach and provide feedback; I'll incorporate neodigm's method with your modifications.