How a braille cell works
A braille cell has six dot positions in two columns of three. Dots 1, 2 and 3 run down the left column and dots 4, 5 and 6 down the right. Each letter is a pattern of raised dots: a is dot 1, b is dots 1 and 2, and c is dots 1 and 4.
Patterns in the alphabet
The letters a to j use only the top four dots. k to t repeat them with dot 3 added, so k is a with dot 3, and u, v, x, y and z repeat a to e with dots 3 and 6 added. w doesn’t fit the pattern: braille was designed for French, which didn’t use w at the time, so it was fitted in later.
Numbers, capitals and punctuation
Numbers reuse a to j after the number sign ⠼ (dots 3, 4, 5 and 6), so 2026 is ⠼⠃⠚⠃⠋. A capital letter has the capital sign ⠠ (dot 6) in front of it, and two of them mark a whole word in capitals. Punctuation has cells of its own: a full stop is ⠲ (dots 2, 5 and 6) and a comma ⠂ (dot 2).
Grade 1 and grade 2
This chart is uncontracted braille, often called grade 1, where every letter is spelled out. Most braille books, signs and labels use contracted braille (grade 2), with short forms for common words and letter groups, which this chart doesn’t cover.
A printed chart is flat, so it is for sighted readers: for learning or teaching the code, decoding puzzles, or checking a label. People who read braille by touch need embossed braille.
Sources & method
Letters, the capital, number and grade 1 signs, and every punctuation sign on the chart follow the Unified English Braille symbol lists of the International Council on English Braille, checked symbol by symbol. The chart covers uncontracted UEB only.
Checked against
- ICEB: Unified English Braille symbol listsdot numbers of the signs and punctuation on the chart