More than 50 Pathfinder Press books by Socialist Workers Party and other revolutionary leaders are now available in formats accessible to readers who are blind or face other obstacles to reading. Several years ago, Pathfinder launched a project to convert its printed books into accessible formats. The aim is to help draw broader layers of working people into discussion, study, union activity and social protests, and revolutionary working-class political activity.
Pathfinder makes these books available through Bookshare, an online library that services people around the world who, for whatever reason, have trouble reading books and other material in print. These accessible e-books can be read or listened to on a computer, tablet, smart phone or specialized reading devices. Readers can increase the type size, change the typeface or change the background color — whatever makes it easier to read. They can hear the text read out loud on their computer or phone while they follow it on screen.
Bookshare also makes these books available to download for electronic devices that produce Braille displays, DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) “talking book” files, MP3 audio books and other formats. For information about getting Pathfinder titles and other books through Bookshare, go to www.bookshare.org.
Bob Roberts is someone who uses Bookshare and screen reader software to read Pathfinder books. He recently read The Fight Against Jew-Hatred and Pogroms in the Imperialist Epoch: Stakes for the International Working Class and The Jewish Question: A Marxist Interpretation. “Hearing the book is often easier than reading as my eyesight is challenged,” he said. “It facilitates the flow of a sentence and paragraph. I also use screen reader software for reading the Militant each week. It has made quite a big difference.”
A team of volunteers worked to learn the software and standards being developed worldwide to make written material more accessible in digital formats. They write descriptions of every photo and other illustrations, adding navigation links to allow the reader to move between the text and footnotes and between the text and the index. They add page navigation that matches the pagination of the print book, to help those who read and study the books along with others.
There are now 24 Pathfinder titles in fully accessible EPUB format available through Bookshare. These include Pathfinder’s most recent titles: The Low Point of Labor Resistance Is Behind Us: The Socialist Workers Party Looks Forward and The Fight Against Jew-Hatred and Pogroms in the Imperialist Epoch. The first Spanish-language title converted by the volunteers will be available by the end of the year. The complete list is available at the Pathfinder website, https://www.pathfinderpress.com/collections/books-for-the-blind.
An additional three dozen Pathfinder titles are available in a text-only format at Bookshare.
Similar efforts in Cuba
Cuba’s National Association of the Blind (ANCI) is involved in similar efforts to aid those there who, for whatever reason, face challenges in reading. I visited their booth at the Havana International Book Fair in February 2023. At the time, a group had come by bus to participate in a daily program ANCI organized during the fair. These participants came to get books that the association makes available free of charge.
A few took books in Braille, with the text embossed in large format. Many held out computer flash drives to download books in digital format from a laptop at the stand. They can read the books by listening to the text read out loud on their computer or cellphones.
There are an estimated 7.5 million people with blindness or limited vision in the U.S. Millions of others have dyslexia and other learning or physical challenges that make it difficult for them to read and study print books. So do many millions more around the world.
Spread the word about these accessible Pathfinder titles at Bookshare! Help extend the reach of working-class ideas!