So why is it so hard?

His assistant had to post on community forums because, as it turns out, the major activity platforms — Meetup and the like — aren't particularly accessible for visually impaired users. Let that sink in. We live in the backyard of the biggest tech companies on Earth, in a region that never shuts up about "inclusion" and "equity," and a blind man can't use the most basic social apps to find a hiking partner.

This isn't a government problem, and we're not calling for a regulation. It's a market failure that the market should be embarrassed about. Meetup, Strava, AllTrails — these are billion-dollar ecosystems built in a region where accessibility should be table stakes, not an afterthought. Screen reader compatibility isn't bleeding-edge technology. It's been around for decades.

The good news is that the Bay Area's community spirit still works when the apps don't. One local who saw Zach's post recalled a blind adventurer named Ahmet from their Berkeley days — someone who "is incredibly adventurous" and has actually organized kayaking trips for visually impaired groups in San Francisco. That kind of grassroots connective tissue is exactly what makes this region worth living in, even when the institutions fail.

But here's the libertarian case for better design: accessible platforms aren't charity — they're a bigger addressable market. The CDC estimates roughly 12 million Americans over 40 have some form of vision impairment. That's a customer base most startups would kill for. The company that builds a genuinely accessible outdoor activity platform isn't just doing the right thing — they're doing smart business.

Zach isn't waiting around for Silicon Valley to figure this out. He's posting on forums, emailing strangers, and getting outside anyway. If you're in the East Bay and want a kayaking partner with more guts than most sighted people you know, he's not hard to find.

Sometimes the most radical thing you can do is just show up.