Braille Playing Cards: How They're Marked, Where to Buy

Braille playing cards are ordinary decks with braille in the corner of each card: the card's value and its suit, usually in two cells. In the most common US convention, the king of spades reads k s (⠅⠎) and the ten of hearts x h (⠭⠓). Most braille decks keep the regular print too, so blind and sighted players share one table. A standard deck costs about $7 to $10 in the US.

Below: how the corner is marked, why two decks can disagree, what happened to Braille UNO, the other card games in braille, where to buy, and how to braille a deck yourself. Prices and product pages were checked on October 28, 2026.

Key points

• In the US convention described by Paths to Literacy (Perkins School for the Blind), each card carries two cells, value then suit, with no number sign.
• Ace is 1, 10 is x, and jack, queen and king are j, q and k. Suits are c, d, h and s.
• There is no single standard. NFB sells two decks that write the numbers differently, and decks from the UK and Canada use another suit code (X for clubs, K for hearts).
• Braille UNO came out in October 2019, made by Mattel with the National Federation of the Blind: 112 cards with braille for the color and the number or action. Mattel no longer has a product page for it.
• You can braille your own deck with a slate and stylus, a braillewriter or braille label tape.

How a braille playing card is marked

The braille goes in a corner of the card face, next to the printed index. A card needs only two things, and they come in this order:

1. The value: ace, 2 to 10, jack, queen or king.
2. The suit: clubs, diamonds, hearts or spades.

In the instructions Paths to Literacy publishes for brailling a deck, each card uses two cells, and "there are no numeric or grade 1 indicators used" (How to braille playing cards). The code:

Without the number sign, the digits 1 to 9 are the same cells as the letters a to i: that is how braille writes numbers, as explained in braille numbers. So the ace of clubs is ⠁⠉, which a reader may call "1 c" or "a c", and the seven of diamonds is ⠛⠙. Ten gets a letter, x, so that every value fits in one cell.

Reading a whole deck takes 14 cells: a to k, plus q, s and x. If you already know the first ten letters of the braille alphabet, you know most of the deck.

One corner or two

Paths to Literacy brailles the top left corner, turns the card around and brailles the new top left corner too, so "no matter which way the user holds the card, the braille will be legible in the top left corner". Commercial decks come both ways: MaxiAids sells a deck "brailled one corner only" and Bicycle jumbo-index decks with braille on two corners (MaxiAids). Two corners is the safer choice for a player who fans the cards in either hand.

Why two braille decks can disagree

The code above is a convention, not a rule from a braille authority, and the decks on sale show it:

Sources: NFB plastic deck, NFB Bicycle deck, MaxiAids Rider deck, RNIB and CNIB SmartLife.

The biggest difference is the suit code in the UK and Canada: D for diamonds, X for clubs, S for spades, K for hearts and L for the joker. On an American deck, k is the king; on a British one, K is a heart. If you buy a deck abroad, or someone at the table learned on another one, agree on the code before the first hand.

The two NFB decks also wear differently. On the coated Bicycle deck "the Braille will wear down over time"; on the plastic deck the braille "is very durable", but the cards are "slipperier than standard cards to shuffle".

Braille UNO

UNO Braille was announced on October 1, 2019 by Mattel and the National Federation of the Blind as "the first official UNO card deck featuring Braille" (NFB press release). What it had:

• 112 cards, with braille on the corner of each one for the card's color and its number or action (CBS News).
• Contracted braille in the top left and bottom right corners, according to the record of the deck in the V&A collection.
• Braille on the front and back of the box, and instructions as braille files (.BRF) and by voice on Alexa and Google Home.
• A launch price of $9.99, sold only at Target.

Since then, Mattel's product page for UNO Braille has gone (it returns an error), UNOBraille.com redirects to the general Mattel Games site, and a search on Target.com shows no braille edition. The NFB's Independence Market sells "UNO Cards" for $13.00, with four print and braille quick-play reference cards; its 2022–23 catalog listed "UNO Cards (National Federation of the Blind Braille Edition)" with the same reference cards (NFB Independence Market).

Not the same thing: some stores sell regular UNO decks with braille added. The Braille Superstore's "Braille Uno" is a standard Mattel deck of 108 cards with braille on two corners (Braille Superstore). The official UNO Braille deck had 112.

Other card games in braille

The same stores adapt other card games by adding braille to the brand-name cards. None of these is an official Mattel braille edition:

• Skip-Bo: 162 cards with braille on two corners, $29.95 at the Braille Superstore.
• Phase 10: braille for the number and the color, $21.95 at MaxiAids.
• Pinochle: a braille pinochle deck at NFB ($9.00 in its 2022–23 catalog).
• The Braille Superstore also lists Uno Flip, Dos, Rook, Blink and Monopoly Bid with braille, and a braille book with the rules of 20 card games (card games).

Braille or large print?

They are different products. Large-print decks are for low vision: in NFB's 2022–23 catalog, its large-print cards have markings 9/16 inch tall, "50% larger than on standard playing cards", and its E-Z-See cards have numbers 1 9/16 inches tall, letters instead of pictures on the face cards and a different color for each suit. Many braille decks are also jumbo-index decks, with big print and braille on the same card, which suits a player who reads some print, and a mixed table.

APH's VisionAware lists several low-vision decks and sums it up: "Many companies make decks of playing cards in large print and/or braille" (VisionAware, cards and games).

Where to buy braille playing cards

Outside the US: RNIB in the UK (£7.20), CNIB SmartLife in Canada (CA$24.95) and Vision Australia (A$22.00, on back order that day). Prices change; check the store before you order.

How to braille your own deck

Any deck can become a braille deck. Paths to Literacy's method:

1. Put the card in a slate and stylus or a braillewriter and braille the value and the suit in the top left corner.
2. Turn the card around and braille the new top left corner, so the card reads either way up.
3. Repeat for all 52 cards.

Paths to Literacy calls it "a great activity for someone learning to use a slate and stylus" (the instructions as a PDF). If you have never used one, start with our guide to the slate and stylus: on a slate you write from right to left, with the cells mirrored.

The American Council of the Blind adds a third option, a braille label maker with DYMO tape, and warns that labels "may need to be modified slightly" to fit on the card (Braille Forum, May 2024). Our post on braille labels covers the tape and the label makers.

Not everyone puts the braille in the same place: the teacher resource teachingvisuallyimpaired.com recommends the top right corner, about ¼ inch from the edges (Transcribing playing cards). What matters is that the whole deck follows one convention, and that the players know it.

Learn the cells before the first game

A braille deck is a good first reading goal: fourteen cells, two at a time, with a game as the reward. For more ideas in the same spirit, see braille games and activities, and to check a card against its letter, print the A–Z flashcards from our free braille printables.

Braillito, our app, teaches the braille cells in lessons with exercises you play, with lives, levels and a daily streak: 59 lessons in 8 worlds in English. It also has a translator, a dictionary and a cell builder. Braillito is a subscription with no free version; depending on the plan, it starts with a free trial or a discounted first period, if it's your first subscription (is Braillito free?). Get Braillito.

Frequently asked questions

How are braille playing cards marked?

With the card's value and suit in braille in a corner, usually two cells. In the common US convention, ace is 1, 10 is x, jack, queen and king are j, q and k, and the suits are c, d, h and s, with no number sign. Decks from the UK and Canada use D, X, S and K for diamonds, clubs, spades and hearts.

Where can I buy braille playing cards?

In the US, from the NFB Independence Market, MaxiAids, Independent Living Aids and the Braille Superstore, for about $7 to $10 a deck on October 28, 2026. In the UK from RNIB, in Canada from CNIB SmartLife and in Australia from Vision Australia.

Is there a braille version of UNO?

Yes. Mattel and the National Federation of the Blind launched UNO Braille in October 2019: 112 cards with braille for the color and the number or action, at $9.99. Mattel no longer has a product page for it; the NFB Independence Market sells UNO cards with print and braille reference cards, and some stores sell regular UNO decks with braille added.

Can I make my own braille playing cards?

Yes. Braille the value and the suit in the top left corner with a slate and stylus, a braillewriter or braille label tape, then turn the card and braille the opposite corner. Keep one convention for the whole deck.

What do blind people use to play cards?

A deck with braille in the corners, a large-print deck for low vision, or both on the same card. Card holders and tactile boards, such as a cribbage board, help too.