18/02/2026
This is an edited response to a comment about the hard truths of society's view of visual impairment:
I agree with the sentiment you have articulated. They are hard truths. Although I do not personally have any serious visual impairment, what started Nova Sonus was me acting in advocacy of my father, who was late-life blind through diabetes. When I started to develop potential solutions to his lack of bi-directional, thought-provoking entertainment (games), my mind was opened to the wider issue. I've sat on RNIB focus groups and started to speak to diverse people with blindness, and it became clear that what you have articulated is the 'norm'.
I don't like that, not one little bit. What started as making interactive audio-based gaming solutions for people with VI took on a new focus when I realised how people with sight issues are viewed. Tell me if you think this is a fair representation of what you said:
People with sight issues, well, anything regarded as a disability, are considered to be a cost, a cost that has to be overcome before they can have value.
I think that puts it into perspective. However, from that position, the question is asked: what are the routes out? I believe that inverting the model is the thing to do, that is, lead from value so that cost is never part of the discussion.
When I understood that it was obvious to me that if I am building solutions for people with sight impairment, then they should be leaders in that story, so I made the decision that, wherever possible, anything we develop should extend the functionality to people who are VI to add value-based contributions from which they benefit financially and socially.
If things go the way I want, then the community will break out of the 'cost' corral as leaders as a natural outcome.
