Braille represents text as patterns of raised dots arranged in a 2×3 grid called a cell. A reader traces a fingertip across the dots to identify each pattern. The grid has six dot positions, numbered 1–3 down the left column and 4–6 down the right column, giving 2⁶ = 64 possible patterns (including the blank cell). Those 64 patterns underpin all of English braille, with Grade 2 braille extending their meaning through contractions.
The Cell Grid
Dots are numbered this way:
1 • • 4
2 • • 5
3 • • 6A raised dot in position 1 and position 4 (top row, both columns) produces the letter C. A raised dot in position 1 alone produces A. You identify a cell by listing the numbers of raised dots: C = dots 1,4.
The Letters A Through J
The first 10 braille letters share a base pattern that forms the rest of the alphabet:
| Letter | Raised dots | Unicode braille | Dot pattern |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | 1 | ⠁ | ●·/··/·· |
| b | 1, 2 | ⠃ | ●·/●·/·· |
| c | 1, 4 | ⠉ | ●●/··/·· |
| d | 1, 4, 5 | ⠙ | ●●/·●/·· |
| e | 1, 5 | ⠑ | ●·/·●/·· |
| f | 1, 2, 4 | ⠋ | ●●/●·/·· |
| g | 1, 2, 4, 5 | ⠛ | ●●/●●/·· |
| h | 1, 2, 5 | ⠓ | ●·/●●/·· |
| i | 2, 4 | ⠊ | ·●/●·/·· |
| j | 2, 4, 5 | ⠚ | ·●/●●/·· |
Letters k–t add dot 3 to the a–j patterns. Letters u–z add dots 3 and 6 (with w being an exception added later for French loanwords).
The Unicode Standard’s Braille Patterns block (U+2800–U+28FF) encodes all 256 possible 8-dot cells and all 64 six-dot cells, allowing braille to appear in digital text.
Numbers in Braille
Braille uses the same cell patterns for numbers as for letters a–j, but a number indicator (dots 3,4,5,6: ⠼) placed before the digits signals that what follows should be read as numbers, not letters.
| Digit | Braille cell (= letter) |
|---|---|
| 1 | a (⠁) |
| 2 | b (⠃) |
| 3 | c (⠉) |
| 4 | d (⠙) |
| 5 | e (⠑) |
| 6 | f (⠋) |
| 7 | g (⠛) |
| 8 | h (⠓) |
| 9 | i (⠊) |
| 0 | j (⠚) |
How Braille Is Produced
Embossers punch dots into heavy paper. Traditional production uses a braille printer that works like an inkjet, pressing metal pins instead of spraying ink. Smaller documents are produced on a slate and stylus — a hinged metal frame with cell-shaped openings through which a pointed tool punches dots from right to left on the back of the paper, so the dots face up when the paper is flipped. The Perkins School for the Blind developed the Perkins Brailler mechanical writer in 1951, which remains widely used today.
Refreshable braille displays show digital text in braille by raising and lowering pins electronically. A 40-cell display shows one line of text at a time.
Unified English Braille
Until 2016, the United States used a separate standard called English Braille American Edition. The Braille Authority of North America (BANA) voted to adopt Unified English Braille (UEB) in November 2012, and UEB became the official US standard on January 4, 2016. UEB aligns the US with the UK, Australia, Canada, and other English-speaking countries under a single international code administered by the International Council on English Braille (ICEB).
Use the braille translator to convert any text to braille cells, or read Grade 1 vs. Grade 2 Braille to understand how contractions extend the basic cell system.