Swoveralls Comfort Club · August 2026 · Volume 4, Issue 8

The Curb Cut Effect: Why Comfort Designed for Some Works for Everyone

By Kyle Bergman, Founder of Swoveralls · August 2026

August 2026 - Yo Gabba Gabba Family Shoot, Maryland

August 2026
Volume 4, Issue 8

Free Waistband Fam,

August is here, our Yo Gabba Gabba collection launched (more on that in a second), and I want to tell you about two customers who are making this brand better in ways I never could have predicted. One audited our website for accessibility from her wheelchair. The other reads 240 books a year and runs a blog called "The Lesbian at the Library."

This month we're also talking about why designing for the margins makes things better for everyone, celebrating the YGG launch with a Brands We Love that connects directly to it, and floating an idea we need your help on (hint: buttflap swoveralls?).

Here's what we're covering:

• 🧠 The curb cut effect (and why comfort should be universal)
• ♿ Cat Contillo - customer, accessibility consultant, and the reason our website is getting better
• 📚 Lisa Bryers - 240 books a year, Dino Swoveralls, and ideas that are going on our whiteboard
• 🍦 Brands We Love: WHITE LYON handcrafted ice cream & cookies (from the producer of Yo Gabba Gabba)

Let's get it!

🧠 The curb cut effect, and why comfort should be universal

Not that curb effect, but I couldn't resist

In 1945, Kalamazoo, Michigan became the first city to install curb cuts at crosswalks. They were built for disabled World War II veterans returning home in wheelchairs.

Then something unexpected happened. Everyone started using them. Parents with strollers. Travelers with luggage. Cyclists. Delivery drivers. Skateboarders. People with temporary injuries. The solution designed for wheelchair users became a solution for everyone.

This is called the curb cut effect, and it shows up everywhere once you start looking. Closed captions were designed for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers. Now millions of people use them in noisy gyms, quiet offices, and while learning new languages. Text-to-speech was built for the visually impaired. Now it's how commuters consume books and articles hands-free. Dark mode was created for users with low vision. Now it's one of the most requested features across every app.

The pattern is always the same: design for the person with the most barriers, and you accidentally make things better for everyone.

This is the Swoveralls story too, whether I realized it or not.

We designed sweatpant overalls because waistbands were annoying. But as we shared in our March newsletter, thousands of customers wear Swoveralls because waistbands are medically unbearable. People with Crohn's, fibromyalgia, POTS, sensory processing disorders, post-surgical recovery. For them, waistband-free clothing isn't a preference. It's a necessity.

We didn't set out to make adaptive clothing. But the curb cut effect doesn't care about your intentions. It cares about your design.

This month, one of our customers took this idea even further. She audited our entire website for accessibility. Her name is Cat, and her story is below.

⭐ Customer Spotlight #1: Cat Contillo

Cat Contillo is a customer. She rocks Dino Swoveralls. She's planning to get matching pairs for her and her wife for their wedding anniversary. (Her wife, by the way, is always stealing hers.)

Cat is also a certified ADA and web accessibility consultant who runs Chronically Empowered Pathways. And this summer, she audited the entire Swoveralls website.

Here's what that means: Cat and her team tested our homepage, product pages, best sellers, and sale pages using Axe DevTools, WAVE, Google Lighthouse, VoiceOver, and keyboard-only navigation. They had real users test the site with screen readers. They produced four deliverables: a full audit report, an executive report, a technical report for our developers, and a color accessibility guide.

Every document was built with accessibility in mind. The executive and technical reports are image-free so screen readers can navigate every word. The full report includes descriptive alt text for all 68 embedded screenshots.

Cat wrote in her email to us: "I want every one of your customers, regardless of how they access the web, to shop on your site with the same confidence and ease as anyone else."

That's the curb cut effect in action. When we fix the accessibility issues Cat identified, the site gets better for everyone. Faster navigation. Clearer labels. Better contrast. More intuitive product pages. You'll benefit from these changes whether you use a screen reader or not.

Cat rockin the Dinos!

But Cat didn't stop at the audit. During our photoshoot conversation, she pitched something that stopped me in my tracks: adaptive Swoveralls designed for wheelchair users. Her idea? A back flap that nobody would see because she's sitting in her wheelchair, but that would let her use the restroom without having to take the whole thing off. Or a way to secure them so they don't fall onto the ground when she's transferring.

We're seriously exploring this. And we want to know: would you want Buttflap Swoveralls? If you're a wheelchair user, have mobility challenges, or just think this is a great idea, reply to this email. Your response will help us decide how to move forward.

If you run a DTC brand and want Cat to audit your site, here's her pitch (and she helped me write it): "If you hire Cat, you get a full accessibility audit from a certified accessibility consultant, plus a clear roadmap to fix every issue. Once those fixes are implemented, many brands find they can retire their accessibility overlay app entirely. Real compliance built into your site instead of a band-aid layered on top, and one less monthly software fee."

Cat, thank you for making our website better for everyone. You're exactly what the curb cut effect looks like in real life. ♿

⭐ Customer Spotlight #2: Lisa Bryers

Lisa ALSO rockin' the Dinos

Lisa Bryers read 240 books last year. She purchased fewer than 10 of them. For those too lazy to math that, that's more than 230 books borrowed from the library.

Lisa runs a blog and Instagram called "The Lesbian at the Library" (@lesbianatthelibrary), which is a love letter to books and to libraries. Her second Instagram post ever? A photo of her in her Color Riot Swoveralls (we're beyond honored). She's also a massive Dino print fan who got a photo for this newsletter specifically in her Dinos (see above).

I loved chatting with Lisa about our mutual obsession with the Dino print and hearing about her little boy, who she can't wait to bring into the comfy fam (He's 2-ish...but a big fella like my twins so the size 4s should be perfect!).

But here's what made the conversation special: Lisa had ideas. She wants library-themed Swoveralls. Books, reading nooks, library cards. Her son wants trucks. Both ideas went straight onto our comfy whiteboard (where future designs live before they become real).

This is what I love about these calls. Customers don't just tell us what they like. They tell us what should exist. And sometimes they're absolutely right.

Lisa, thank you for being an incredible customer, an advocate for libraries, and for giving us two design ideas that we're genuinely excited about. Find her blog at thelesbianatthelibrary.wordpress.com. If you love books and libraries, you'll love what she's building. 📚

🍦 Brands We Love: WHITE LYON Handcrafted Ice Cream & Cookies

White Lyon Ice Cream 🤤

Our Yo Gabba Gabba collection launched on August 4th and the reception has been incredible. So it felt right to spotlight someone from the YGG family this month.

Justin Lyon is one of the magical humans behind the scenes at Yo Gabba Gabba, and was/is a producer for the entire run of the show. He booked the guest stars, managed the brand, and helped build one of the most beloved kids' shows of a generation. Little did I know that in additio to his Gabba duties he's also co-founder of WHITE LYON handcrafted ice cream & cookies in Corona, California.

WHITE LYON is exactly what you'd hope a shop from a Yo Gabba Gabba producer would be: colorful, joyful, family-friendly, and obsessively crafted. They make all their ice cream in-house with at least 16 rotating flavors (three of which are always dairy-free), bake fresh warm cookies on site, and have a space designed for families to slow down and celebrate together.

Their motto: "Life is worth celebrating."

If you're in the Corona, CA area, stop by their shop at 1973 Foothill Pkwy. If you're not, follow them at @whitelyonhq. And if you just grabbed a pair of our Yo Gabba Gabba Swoveralls, now you know the ice cream spot that goes with them.

Check them out at whitelyonhq.com 🍦

Until next time...

The curb cut effect teaches us something simple: when you design for the person with the most barriers, you make things better for everyone.

Cat showed us where our website was falling short. Lisa showed us what designs should exist. Justin showed us that the guy who booked Jack Black for a kids' show also makes incredible ice cream. And our Yo Gabba Gabba collection is proof that nostalgia and comfort belong together.

Reply to this email if you want adaptive Swoveralls. Reply if you want library print Swoveralls. Reply if you want truck print Swoveralls. I'm listening, I'm writing it down, and putting it on the comfy road map.

Stay cozy, stay accessible, and keep making the room better for everyone.

Founder | Chief Swoveralls Officer

P.S. - Cat's accessibility audit is already changing how our site works. If you notice improvements over the next few months, that's Cat. Say thank you by telling your friends about us (and about Cat's skills!). Say double thank you by replying to this email with what would make your Swoveralls experience better. We read every single one.

P.P.S - If you made it this far, you might as well join our facebook group here (the Comfort Club), and special shoutout to comfort coach Mary Elise for helping run the group!