Found the solution. The connection of the battery was not strong enough. You really have to jam it in hard until you hear an audible click. It was confusing how it registered the battery but the battery wasn’t powering the device.

This guide follows the same steps I took. My Kobo now has a working touch screen. But has developed an new issue. It no longer works on battery power. While the kobo is powered through the USB port, the kobo recognizes the battery is at 100% capacity. I put a volt meter on the battery and confirmed it read 3.7 volts. If I unplug the battery then the icon for the battery disappears when turned on again under USB power. I believe this tells me the problem is not the battery or the battery connection. I tried reinserting the ribbon cables a few times but I just can’t seem to solve this issue. I should also indicate that the kobo looses functionality immediately upon unplugging from the USB power source. Does anyone have some guidance?