The Web's New Reformation: From Paint to Power

Greetings, my friends in code. Welcome back to the digital scriptorium. The ink is barely dry on the year 2025, and the scribes at Google have gifted us a scroll of immense power: CSS Wrapped 2025. As we settle into 2026, it is time to reflect on a shift that feels less like an update and more like a reformation.

For years, we have treated CSS as a language of pure presentation—a way to paint the walls of our digital monastery. But the features unveiled in this latest wrap-up confirm what many of us have suspected: CSS is evolving into a language of logic, state, and native application power. We are moving away from "hacking" layouts with heavy JavaScript libraries and toward a future where the browser does the heavy lifting for us.

Today, let us illuminate the most transformative features from the 2025 report that you should begin experimenting with immediately. We shall explore how to replace complex JavaScript logic with native CSS, focusing on ergonomics and performance.

The Holy Grail: Fully Customizable Native Selects

If I had a gold coin for every time a fellow developer complained about styling the <select> element, I could buy a new cathedral. For decades, we were forced to hide the native element and rebuild dropdowns from scratch using div soup and JavaScript to get custom styling. That era is finally ending.

The introduction of appearance: base-select allows us to fully customize the select element and its dropdown (the picker) while keeping the native accessibility and keyboard navigation we rely on. This is achieved through the new Open UI standards.

select {
  /* Progressive enhancement: Only apply if the browser supports it */
  @supports (appearance: base-select) {
    &, &::picker(select) {
      appearance: base-select;
      background: #f0f0f0;
      border: 1px solid #333;
      border-radius: 4px;
    }
  }
}

This does not just change colors; it allows for rich content inside options. You can now include images (like flags or user avatars) directly inside your option tags, something previously impossible without JavaScript interventions. For a deeper dive into the history of this feature, I recommend reading the extensive documentation on Open UI.

Scroll Markers: The End of the JavaScript Carousel

Carousels have long been a penance for developers. Clients love them; we dread the accessibility issues and the JavaScript weight required to make them work. The 2025 update brings us ::scroll-marker and ::scroll-button().

We can now link navigation dots and previous/next buttons directly to a scroll container using only CSS. The browser handles the state, the focus management, and the scrolling interaction.

.carousel {
  overflow-x: auto;
  /* Automatically groups markers */
  scroll-marker-group: after; 
  
  /* Create navigation buttons */
  &::scroll-button(inline-end), 
  &::scroll-button(inline-start) {
    content: " ";
    position: absolute;
    top: 50%;
  }

  /* Target the items */
  div {
    &::scroll-marker {
      content: " ";
      width: 12px;
      height: 12px;
      border-radius: 50%;
      background: #ccc;
    }
    
    /* Active state logic handled natively! */
    &::scroll-marker:target-current {
      background: var(--primary-color);
    }
  }
}

Comparison: Old Way vs. The Native Way

To help you visualize the savings in complexity, observe this comparison:

State Queries: Knowing When to "Stick"

One of the most requested capabilities in web design has been the ability to style an element based on whether it is currently "stuck" (using position: sticky). Previously, we had to use an IntersectionObserver in JavaScript to toggle a class when the element hit the viewport edge.

With Scroll State Queries, specifically container-type: scroll-state, we can now query this declaratively. This is excellent for headers that need a shadow only when they are scrolling over content.

.header-container {
  container-type: scroll-state;
  position: sticky;
  top: 0;

  header {
    transition: box-shadow 0.3s ease;

    /* Apply shadow ONLY when stuck to the top */
    @container scroll-state(stuck: top) {
      box-shadow: 0 4px 12px rgba(0,0,0,0.1);
    }
  }
}

You can read more about the evolution of container queries and these new state capabilities on Chrome for Developers or see practical examples on Ahmad Shadeed’s blog, where visual explanations of these concepts are often detailed.

Logic in the Stylesheet: The if() Function

My friends, this is where the line between styling and scripting truly blurs. The introduction of inline conditionals via if() acts almost like a ternary operator for your styles. It allows us to apply values based on support or media conditions without writing verbose @media blocks for every single property.

Combined with sibling-index(), we can create complex staggered animations without hard-coding "magic numbers" into our HTML custom properties.

.card-grid > .card {
  /* Calculate delay based on index without JS loops */
  animation-delay: calc(sibling-index() * 100ms);
  
  /* Conditional styling logic */
  padding: if(style(--variant: compact), 1rem, 2rem);
}

For those interested in the deep mechanics of these logical functions, Bram.us is an excellent resource for keeping up with the bleeding edge of CSS syntax.

Conclusion

The tools we have been given in the CSS Wrapped 2025 report are not merely cosmetic; they are structural. By adopting appearance: base-select, scroll markers, and state queries, we reduce technical debt and improve the resilience of our applications. We are entering an era where we stop fighting the browser to recreate standard UI patterns and start using the platform as it was intended.

I encourage you to open your code editors—your personal scriptoriums—and test these features today. While browser support grows, remember to use progressive enhancement (@supports) to ensure your creations remain accessible to all.

Until next time, may your pixels be crisp and your logic flow like water.