What Is Braille? The Six-Dot Code Explained
Braille is a system of reading and writing by touch. Each character is a pattern of up to six raised dots arranged in a small rectangle, the braille cell, two dots wide and three dots tall. A reader runs their fingertips over the dots and recognises each cell as a letter, a number or a punctuation mark. It was created by the Frenchman Louis Braille around 1824 and published in 1829.
Braille is not a language. It is a way of writing a language, the same way the Latin alphabet is a way of writing English, Spanish or Turkish. Nobody speaks braille; what is written in braille is English, or Japanese, or Arabic.
Key points
- Braille is a tactile writing system, not a language.
- Every character is built in a cell of six dots, numbered 1 to 3 down the left column and 4 to 6 down the right.
- Six dots give 64 possible combinations, including the empty cell, which is used as a space.
- The same cell can mean different things: in English, ⠁ is a, and after the numeric indicator it is 1.
- English braille comes in Grade 1 (letter by letter) and Grade 2 (with contractions), and the standard code is Unified English Braille.
- Braille is not universal: each language assigns its own meanings to the cells.
The braille cell
Every braille character sits in the same six positions:
| Position | Dot number |
|---|---|
| Top left | 1 |
| Middle left | 2 |
| Bottom left | 3 |
| Top right | 4 |
| Middle right | 5 |
| Bottom right | 6 |
A character is described by the dots that are raised. a is dot 1 (⠁), b is dots 1 and 2 (⠃), and l is dots 1, 2 and 3 (⠇). The design is tactile, not visual: a six-dot cell fits under the pad of a fingertip, so it can be recognised at once instead of traced.
With six dots there are 2⁶ = 64 combinations. That is enough for the 26 letters, the digits, punctuation and a set of signs that change how the next cell is read.
Letters, numbers and capitals
Braille has no separate shapes for capital letters or for digits. It uses indicators, cells placed in front that change the meaning of what follows:
| Braille | How | |
|---|---|---|
| a | ⠁ | Dot 1 |
| A | ⠠⠁ | The capital indicator (dot 6), then a |
| 1 | ⠼⠁ | The numeric indicator (dots 3-4-5-6), then a |
| braille | ⠃⠗⠁⠊⠇⠇⠑ | One cell per letter in Grade 1 |
The full alphabet, with numbers and punctuation, is on our braille alphabet chart, and the details of numbers are in braille numbers.
Grade 1 and Grade 2
English braille exists in two forms:
- Grade 1, or uncontracted braille, writes each letter in its own cell.
- Grade 2, or contracted braille, adds about 180 contractions: single cells or short groups that stand for whole words or common letter groups.
| Word | Grade 1 | Grade 2 |
|---|---|---|
| the | ⠞⠓⠑ (3 cells) | ⠮ (1 cell) |
| you | ⠽⠕⠥ (3 cells) | ⠽ (1 cell) |
| braille | ⠃⠗⠁⠊⠇⠇⠑ (7 cells) | ⠃⠗⠇ (3 cells) |
Grade 2 is shorter and faster to read, and it is what most English books and signs use. Learners usually start with Grade 1. You can see any text both ways in our braille translator.
The standard code today is Unified English Braille (UEB), adopted by all eight members of the International Council on English Braille: Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Braille is not the same in every language
The cell is universal; what each combination means is not. Most languages written in the Latin alphabet share the basic 26 letters, inherited from French braille, and add their own cells for accented letters. Languages with other writing systems assign the cells differently: Japanese braille encodes kana syllables, Korean braille encodes the jamo that make up hangul, and Arabic braille has its own letters and is read left to right, like all braille.
Unicode reflects this. Its Braille Patterns block (U+2800–U+28FF) encodes every pattern of up to eight dots, and the standard is explicit that a braille cell has no letter or meaning of its own: U+2817 is "braille pattern dots-1235", not the letter R (Braille Patterns). The meaning comes from the language.
Where braille is used
- Books and documents, embossed on thick paper or produced on demand.
- Signs, such as room numbers and restroom signs. In the United States, the 2010 ADA Standards require contracted (Grade 2) braille on signs, with rules for dot size, spacing and placement.
- Medicine packaging in the European Union, where the product name must appear in braille on the box under Article 56a of Directive 2001/83/EC.
- Refreshable braille displays, devices with small pins that rise and fall to show digital text in braille, connected to a computer or phone.
- Music and mathematics, which have their own braille codes.
Is braille still used?
Yes. Audio and screen readers have changed how blind people use computers, but they do not replace braille: listening does not show spelling, punctuation or the layout of a text, which matter for writing, studying and many jobs. Refreshable braille displays let the two work together, turning the same digital text into speech or into braille.
Frequently asked questions
Is braille a language?
No. Braille is a writing system for representing a language by touch. English braille writes English; Spanish braille writes Spanish.
How many dots are in a braille cell?
Six, in two columns of three. Some computer and technical codes use an eight-dot cell, with two extra dots at the bottom.
Who invented braille?
Louis Braille, a French teacher who lost his sight as a child. He developed the six-dot cell around 1824, at fifteen, and published it in 1829. His story is in who was Louis Braille.
Is braille the same everywhere?
The six-dot cell and the dot numbering are the same everywhere, and braille is always read left to right. What each cell means depends on the language.
How do you learn braille?
Start with the cell and the first ten letters, which use only the top four dots; the rest of the alphabet follows from two rules. The full method is in how to learn braille as an adult, and the reading technique in how to read braille.