Braille Font: How to Type Braille Characters

There are two very different things people call a braille font. One is Unicode braille: 256 real characters, from ⠁ to ⣿, that you can copy, paste and type in any app, and that most computers already display. The other is a decorative font that draws ordinary letters as dot pictures, so typing "a" shows a dot. The first is the useful one for most purposes, and neither one produces braille that can be read by touch: that needs an embosser.

Below: how Unicode braille works, which fonts show it, how to type it, and the traps of picture fonts.

Key points

• Unicode has a block of 256 braille characters, U+2800 to U+28FF, one for every pattern of up to eight dots. It was added in Unicode 3.0.
• They are real text: you can copy them from our braille translator and paste them anywhere.
• Most systems include a font that shows them: on Mac, Apple Braille and Apple Symbols; on Windows, Segoe UI Symbol; on Linux, DejaVu Sans, among others.
• In Microsoft Word, type the code and press Alt+X: 2813 then Alt+X gives ⠓.
• A braille character on a screen or on paper is flat. To make braille someone can read by touch, you need an embosser or a slate.

How Unicode braille works

Each braille character's code is U+2800 plus a number built from its dots: dot 1 adds 1, dot 2 adds 2, dot 3 adds 4, dot 4 adds 8, dot 5 adds 16, dot 6 adds 32, and dots 7 and 8 add 64 and 128. So h, dots 1, 2 and 5, is 1 + 2 + 16 = 19, which is hexadecimal 13: U+2813, ⠓.

The Unicode name of each character is just its dots: U+2813 is "BRAILLE PATTERN DOTS-125", not "h". The meaning comes from the language: the same character is h in English and Spanish, and something else in other braille codes. All 64 six-dot patterns, ready to copy, are in braille symbols.

Which fonts show braille

Alan Wood's Unicode resources list, among others, Segoe UI Symbol on Windows, Apple Symbols on the Mac and DejaVu Sans on Linux as fonts that contain braille characters (Alan Wood). Current Macs also include the Apple Braille family, with Outline and Pinpoint styles in six-dot and eight-dot versions. In practice, if you paste braille into a document and see dots, your system already has a suitable font.

How to type braille characters

• Copy and paste. Type your text in our braille translator, in grade 1 or grade 2, and copy the result. It is the easiest way, and it gets contractions and capitals right.
• Word on Windows: Alt+X. Type the hexadecimal code, such as 2813, and press Alt+X; Word turns it into ⠓.
• Six-key braille input. On phones, braille displays and some programs you can type braille with six keys, one per dot; see braille keyboards.

The trap of picture fonts

Some downloadable "braille fonts" simply redraw the letters a to z as dot patterns. They look like braille, but:

• The text underneath is still ordinary letters. Copy it into another app, or let a screen reader read it, and it says "hello", not braille.
• They do not translate. English braille uses capital and number indicators and, usually, contractions: "braille" in grade 2 is three cells, ⠃⠗⠇, not seven. A letter-for-letter font gets that wrong.
• The dots are flat, like any print.

For a poster or a visual teaching chart, a picture font can be fine if you check the result. For anything a braille reader will rely on, use a translator and an embosser.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a braille font?

Yes, two kinds. Unicode braille characters are real text and most systems include fonts that display them, such as Apple Braille, Apple Symbols or Segoe UI Symbol. There are also decorative fonts that draw letters as dots, but those are pictures of letters, not braille.

How do I type braille in Word?

Type the Unicode code of the character, for example 2813, and press Alt+X. Or copy braille from a braille translator and paste it.

Can I print braille from my printer?

You can print pictures of braille, which help sighted people learn it, but the paper stays flat. Readable braille must be embossed with a braille embosser or written with a slate and stylus.

What is U+2800?

The blank braille pattern, the cell with no dots, at the start of the Unicode braille block.