Blackout.
Spectrum lost the connection, and just like that, I lost everything: my internet, my TV, and apparently, my brain. I don’t know about you, but the moment Wi-Fi drops, my mind completely flatlines. I can type thousands of words on a mechanical keyboard, but hand me a pen and paper? What are these tools? Where do I even start?
When you lose something you take completely for granted, you forget how to function. With no screens to distract me, I resorted to the only thing left to do.
Think.
Because the blackout lasted so long, I did a lot of thinking. It turns out 20 hours is an agonizingly long time to be left alone with your own mind. But right in the middle of all that enforced quiet, a massive piece of news broke through the darkness.
If you’ve been following my journey for a while, you might remember that back in 2023, Anthony Phills and I began working on a service called The Slide Teller. Our mission was simple yet massive: to create a technology that allows the visually impaired community to “see” presentation slides. We filed the paperwork, held our breaths, and waited.
Then, right in the middle of my digital blackout, the news arrived: On June 4, 2026, the U.S. government officially granted our patent. Every single one of our 33 legal claims was approved.
Anthony explaining how The Slide Teller works to members of the visually impaired community.
The irony wasn’t lost on me. There I was, pacing around my apartment, feeling utterly helpless and “blind” just because I couldn’t check my emails or stream a show. Yet, at that exact moment, the universe was validating a tool designed for people who navigate a lack of visual information every single day of their lives.
visually impaired individuals from VocalEye and me after performing “How To Be Japanaese” in Vancouver
“Seeing” is something the sighted world takes for granted. Most of us sit through keynote presentations, comedy shows, or corporate pitches without ever pausing to think about what a visually impaired person is missing. We build worlds out of charts and images, leaving an entire community in the dark.
My 20-hour blackout was a minor inconvenience. For millions, a lack of visual access is a permanent barrier.
With The Slide Teller, Anthony and I want to change that. Our dream is to build a world where visual accessibility isn’t a special accommodations request or a luxury add-on. One day, hopefully soon, we can design presentations so inclusively that accessibility isn’t an afterthought anymore—it’s just the standard.
I have to add this to my LinkedIn, loved it.