Hey, I'm Michael. Here's what this is.

Hey, I’m Michael. Here’s what this is.

I’ve been meaning to start one of these for a while. Not because I needed another platform to maintain, but because I kept running out of room to say what

I actually wanted to say in a podcast outro or a Mastodon post.

So here we are.

My name is Michael Babcock. I’m based in Coos Bay, Oregon. I work in the blindness nonprofit space, run a small business called Payown Media that handles

audio production, assistive technology training, and WordPress hosting, and I co-host a podcast called Technically Working with Damashe. We talk about

technology, accessibility, and whatever ends up on the table by the time we hit record.

I’m also blind. I use JAWS on Windows, VoiceOver on Mac and iOS, and TalkBack on Android. Accessibility isn’t a side topic for me. It’s in everything I

do.

This Substack is going to be a mix of things. Episode companion posts for Technically Working. Thoughts on accessibility and assistive tech. Projects I’m

building and figuring out in real time. Audio and production stuff. Basically anything I’m working on that feels worth writing about.

Now, the thing I want to be upfront about before we go any further.

I use AI to help me write. Specifically Claude, made by Anthropic. The thoughts are mine. The opinions are mine. The experiences, the bad takes on smart

locks, the feelings about a 114-day Todoist streak dying on a Monday I still can’t account for, all of that is mine. What AI helps me do is find the shape

of what I’m trying to say faster than I’d find it on my own. It’s a drafting tool. I review everything, rewrite what doesn’t sound like me, and don’t publish anything I don’t stand behind.

I think about it a lot like how I use a screen reader. A screen reader doesn’t read for me. It gives me access to the content so I can do the reading. AI doesn’t think for me. It gives me a starting point so I can do the writing. The tool just makes the access part easier.

If something ever reads like it was written by a robot who has never carried his keys because he trusted a smart lock too much, call me out. That’s fair.

I’m not going to promise a posting schedule. I’ll post when I have something worth saying and I’ll try to make it worth your time when I do.

If you found this through Technically Working, welcome. If you found it some other way, also welcome. Either way, glad you’re here.

Payown Media

Technically Working

Mastodon: @

payown@dragonscave.space

Talk soon.

Michael

The thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own and do not reflect the views of any organization I work with or am affiliated with.