Braille Translator

Type English to see it in Braille, with the dot pattern of every cell drawn out. Press Swap to paste Braille and read it in English. It follows Unified English Braille, letter by letter (grade 1).

The Braille is made of Unicode Braille characters, so you can copy and paste it anywhere. Translation happens in your browser; nothing is sent.

Braille alphabet

Each Braille cell has six dot positions in two columns of three. Dots 1, 2 and 3 run down the left; dots 4, 5 and 6 run down the right. The first ten letters (a to j) use only the top four dots; k to t add dot 3; u, v, x, y and z add dots 3 and 6. W is the odd one out because French, the language Braille was invented for, didn't use it much at the time.

A⠁dots 1
B⠃dots 12
C⠉dots 14
D⠙dots 145
E⠑dots 15
F⠋dots 124
G⠛dots 1245
H⠓dots 125
I⠊dots 24
J⠚dots 245
K⠅dots 13
L⠇dots 123
M⠍dots 134
N⠝dots 1345
O⠕dots 135
P⠏dots 1234
Q⠟dots 12345
R⠗dots 1235
S⠎dots 234
T⠞dots 2345
U⠥dots 136
V⠧dots 1236
W⠺dots 2456
X⠭dots 1346
Y⠽dots 13456
Z⠵dots 1356

Numbers in Braille

Numbers reuse the letters a to j after a number sign (⠼, dots 3-4-5-6): ⠼⠁ is 1, ⠼⠃⠚ is 20. The number sign lasts until a space, so a letter straight after a number gets a special indicator (⠰) to show it's a letter again.

1⠼⠁⠼ + a
2⠼⠃⠼ + b
3⠼⠉⠼ + c
4⠼⠙⠼ + d
5⠼⠑⠼ + e
6⠼⠋⠼ + f
7⠼⠛⠼ + g
8⠼⠓⠼ + h
9⠼⠊⠼ + i
0⠼⠚⠼ + j

Capitals and punctuation

SignBrailleMeaning
Capital letter⠠The next letter is a capital: ⠠⠁ is A
Capital word⠠⠠The whole word is in capitals: ⠠⠠⠝⠁⠎⠁ is NASA
Full stop . / comma ,⠲ / ⠂Written after the word, like print
Question mark ? / exclamation !⠦ / ⠖
Apostrophe ' / hyphen -⠄ / ⠤
Quotation marks " "⠦ … ⠴Opening and closing

Grade 1 and grade 2 Braille

This translator writes grade 1 (uncontracted) Braille: every letter spelled out. Most books and signs use grade 2 (contracted) Braille, which has shortcuts: "and" is a single cell (⠯), "the" is ⠮ and many common words become one or two letters. Grade 2 has hundreds of rules, so for documents that blind readers will use, ask a Braille transcriber or use specialist software. Grade 1 is ideal for learning, labels, puzzles and short messages.

A short history

Louis Braille lost his sight in a childhood accident and, as a teenager at a school for blind children in Paris in the 1820s, adapted a military "night writing" code into the six-dot system used around the world today. Unified English Braille, now the standard in most English-speaking countries, is the version this translator follows.

See Braille next to binary, Morse and 17 other codes with your name in 20 codes, or explore how computers store letters.

Braille translator FAQ

How do I translate English to Braille?

Type or paste your text in the left box. The Braille appears on the right, and the dot pattern of each cell is drawn below it.

How do I translate Braille to English?

Press Swap, then paste Braille characters (Unicode Braille, like ⠓⠊) into the left box. The English appears on the right.

Is this grade 1 or grade 2 Braille?

Grade 1 (uncontracted) Unified English Braille, where every letter is written out. It does not apply grade 2 contractions.

Can I print the Braille?

You can print the characters, but they'll be flat ink dots. Real Braille needs raised dots, made with an embosser or a Braille writer.

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