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Translate English to braille and braille back to English using Unified English Braille. Capitals, numbers, punctuation, and accents follow the UEB rules, and every cell shows its dots.
For another dot code, try the Morse Code Generator or browse the Text tools.
Last updated: October 5, 2026 · Published: 2026-04-09 · Updated: 2026-10-05
20 print characters · 21 braille cells
Dot view
Character by character
| Braille | Dots | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|---|
| L | ⠠⠇ | 6-123 | Letter l + capital |
| o | ⠕ | 135 | Letter o |
| u | ⠥ | 136 | Letter u |
| i | ⠊ | 24 | Letter i |
| s | ⠎ | 234 | Letter s |
| B | ⠠⠃ | 6-12 | Letter b + capital |
| r | ⠗ | 1235 | Letter r |
| a | ⠁ | 1 | Letter a |
| i | ⠊ | 24 | Letter i |
| l | ⠇ | 123 | Letter l |
| l | ⠇ | 123 | Letter l |
| e | ⠑ | 15 | Letter e |
| , | ⠂ | 2 | Comma |
| 1 | ⠼⠁ | 3456-1 | Numeric indicator + 1 |
| 8 | ⠓ | 125 | Digit 8 |
| 2 | ⠃ | 12 | Digit 2 |
| 9 | ⠊ | 24 | Digit 9 |
| . | ⠲ | 256 | Period |
Uncontracted (grade 1) Unified English Braille. Books and signs usually use contracted (grade 2) braille, which shortens common words. For anything official, have a certified transcriber check it.
A braille translator converts print text into braille cells and braille back into print. Each cell has six dot positions, and the raised dots stand for a letter, number, punctuation mark, or indicator. "Louis Braille, 1829." becomes ⠠⠇⠕⠥⠊⠎ ⠠⠃⠗⠁⠊⠇⠇⠑⠂ ⠼⠁⠓⠃⠊⠲.
This translator writes uncontracted (grade 1) Unified English Braille, the code adopted across the English-speaking world and official in the United States since January 4, 2016. It adds the capital, numeric, and grade 1 indicators where UEB requires them, and writes accented letters with UEB modifiers.
The output is Unicode braille, so you can copy it into any app. The dot view draws each cell, and the table explains every cell. Everything runs in your browser.
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Text to braille translates English. Braille to text reads Unicode braille back.
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The translation updates as you type. The dot view draws each cell, and the table explains every cell, including capital and number indicators.
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Copy the braille characters, or copy the dot numbers for worksheets. Convert back checks the translation.
Letters a to j use only the top four dots. Adding dot 3 gives k to t, and adding dots 3 and 6 gives u, v, x, y, and z. W, dots 2-4-5-6, sits outside that pattern. After the numeric indicator, a to j stand for the digits 1 to 0.
| Letter | Braille | Dots | Digit |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | ⠁ | 1 | 1 |
| B | ⠃ | 1-2 | 2 |
| C | ⠉ | 1-4 | 3 |
| D | ⠙ | 1-4-5 | 4 |
| E | ⠑ | 1-5 | 5 |
| F | ⠋ | 1-2-4 | 6 |
| G | ⠛ | 1-2-4-5 | 7 |
| H | ⠓ | 1-2-5 | 8 |
| I | ⠊ | 2-4 | 9 |
| J | ⠚ | 2-4-5 | 0 |
| K | ⠅ | 1-3 | — |
| L | ⠇ | 1-2-3 | — |
| M | ⠍ | 1-3-4 | — |
| N | ⠝ | 1-3-4-5 | — |
| O | ⠕ | 1-3-5 | — |
| P | ⠏ | 1-2-3-4 | — |
| Q | ⠟ | 1-2-3-4-5 | — |
| R | ⠗ | 1-2-3-5 | — |
| S | ⠎ | 2-3-4 | — |
| T | ⠞ | 2-3-4-5 | — |
| U | ⠥ | 1-3-6 | — |
| V | ⠧ | 1-2-3-6 | — |
| W | ⠺ | 2-4-5-6 | — |
| X | ⠭ | 1-3-4-6 | — |
| Y | ⠽ | 1-3-4-5-6 | — |
| Z | ⠵ | 1-3-5-6 | — |
Braille has no separate capital or digit shapes. Indicators placed before letters change what they mean.
| Indicator | Braille | Dots | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capital letter indicator | ⠠ | 6 | Next letter is a capital. | Braille⠠⠃⠗⠁⠊⠇⠇⠑ |
| Capitalised word indicator | ⠠⠠ | 6-6 | The whole word, or the rest of it, is in capitals. | NASA⠠⠠⠝⠁⠎⠁ |
| Capitalised passage indicator | ⠠⠠⠠ | 6-6-6 | Three or more words in capitals, closed by the terminator. | WET PAINT HERE⠠⠠⠠⠺⠑⠞ ⠏⠁⠊⠝⠞ ⠓⠑⠗⠑⠠⠄ |
| Capitals terminator | ⠠⠄ | 6-3 | Ends capitals mode inside a word or after a passage. | ABCs⠠⠠⠁⠃⠉⠠⠄⠎ |
| Numeric indicator | ⠼ | 3456 | The cells for a to j that follow are digits 1 to 0. | 2026⠼⠃⠚⠃⠋ |
| Grade 1 symbol indicator | ⠰ | 56 | The next cell is a letter, not a digit. | 3c⠼⠉⠰⠉ |
Numeric mode continues through digits, a decimal point, and a comma, so 1,000 needs one indicator: ⠼⠁⠂⠚⠚⠚. A space, hyphen, or other symbol ends it, which is why 9-10 is ⠼⠊⠤⠼⠁⠚.
| Braille | Dots | |
|---|---|---|
| . Period | ⠲ | 256 |
| , Comma | ⠂ | 2 |
| ? Question mark | ⠦ | 236 |
| ! Exclamation mark | ⠖ | 235 |
| ; Semicolon | ⠆ | 23 |
| : Colon | ⠒ | 25 |
| ' Apostrophe | ⠄ | 3 |
| - Hyphen | ⠤ | 36 |
| — Dash | ⠠⠤ | 6-36 |
| ( Opening parenthesis | ⠐⠣ | 5-126 |
| ) Closing parenthesis | ⠐⠜ | 5-345 |
| / Slash | ⠸⠌ | 456-34 |
| @ At sign | ⠈⠁ | 4-1 |
| # Number sign (hash) | ⠸⠹ | 456-1456 |
| $ Dollar sign | ⠈⠎ | 4-234 |
| % Percent sign | ⠨⠴ | 46-356 |
| & Ampersand | ⠈⠯ | 4-12346 |
| Accent | Example | Braille |
|---|---|---|
| Acute accent | é | ⠘⠌⠑45-34-15 |
| Grave accent | è | ⠘⠡⠑45-16-15 |
| Circumflex | ê | ⠘⠩⠑45-146-15 |
| Diaeresis (umlaut) | ü | ⠘⠒⠥45-25-136 |
| Tilde | ñ | ⠘⠻⠝45-12456-1345 |
| Cedilla | ç | ⠘⠯⠉45-12346-14 |
| Ring | å | ⠘⠫⠁45-1246-1 |
| Caron | č | ⠘⠬⠉45-346-14 |
In UEB the question mark and the opening double quote share dots 2-3-6, and the closing quote is dots 3-5-6. A modifier comes before the letter it changes, and a capital indicator comes before the modifier: Étude is ⠠⠘⠌⠑⠞⠥⠙⠑.
Examples from The Rules of Unified English Braille, third edition (ICEB, 2024), that use no contractions, next to this translator's output.
| Rule | This translator | Matches rulebook | |
|---|---|---|---|
| C is for candy. | 5.11.1 | ⠠⠉ ⠊⠎ ⠋⠕⠗ ⠉⠁⠝⠙⠽⠲ | Yes |
| Question 3c | 5.11.1 | ⠠⠟⠥⠑⠎⠞⠊⠕⠝ ⠼⠉⠰⠉ | Yes |
| 7:30 a.m. | 6.3.1 | ⠼⠛⠒⠼⠉⠚ ⠁⠲⠍⠲ | Yes |
| 1914–18 | 6.3.1 | ⠼⠁⠊⠁⠙⠠⠤⠼⠁⠓ | Yes |
| 2.5-5 | 6.3.1 | ⠼⠃⠲⠑⠤⠼⠑ | Yes |
| Étude | 8.3.3 | ⠠⠘⠌⠑⠞⠥⠙⠑ | Yes |
| FRANÇOIS | 8.4.2 | ⠠⠠⠋⠗⠁⠝⠘⠯⠉⠕⠊⠎ | Yes |
| DON'T | 8.4.2 | ⠠⠠⠙⠕⠝⠄⠠⠞ | Yes |
| R.S.V.P. | 8.4.2 | ⠠⠗⠲⠠⠎⠲⠠⠧⠲⠠⠏⠲ | Yes |
| AT&T | 8.4.2 | ⠠⠠⠁⠞⠈⠯⠠⠞ | Yes |
| McDONALD@xyz.com | 8.4.2 | ⠠⠍⠉⠠⠠⠙⠕⠝⠁⠇⠙⠈⠁⠭⠽⠵⠲⠉⠕⠍ | Yes |
| ABCs | 8.6.3 | ⠠⠠⠁⠃⠉⠠⠄⠎ | Yes |
| café | 4.2.1 | ⠉⠁⠋⠘⠌⠑ | Yes |
| skål! | 4.2.1 | ⠎⠅⠘⠫⠁⠇⠖ | Yes |
Contracted (grade 2) braille shortens words and letter groups. These contractions appear in the rulebook's own examples.
| Word | Grade 1 (this translator) | Grade 2 |
|---|---|---|
| braille | ⠃⠗⠁⠊⠇⠇⠑ | ⠃⠗⠇ |
| the | ⠞⠓⠑ | ⠮ |
| and | ⠁⠝⠙ | ⠯ |
| for | ⠋⠕⠗ | ⠿ |
| getting | ⠛⠑⠞⠞⠊⠝⠛ | ⠛⠑⠞⠞⠬ |
| porch | ⠏⠕⠗⠉⠓ | ⠏⠕⠗⠡ |
The Braille Patterns block holds every pattern of an eight-dot cell, 256 characters from U+2800 to U+28FF, including the 64 six-dot patterns. Unicode encodes the dot patterns only. Which letter a pattern means depends on the braille code.
Each raised dot adds a value to U+2800: dot 1 adds 1, dot 2 adds 2, dot 3 adds 4, dot 4 adds 8, dot 5 adds 16 (hex 10), and dot 6 adds 32 (hex 20). The letter h has dots 1-2-5, so 1 + 2 + 16 = 19, hex 13, which makes ⠓ U+2813.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1809 | Louis Braille is born on January 4 in Coupvray, France. |
| 1824 | At 15, Braille invents his system of raised dots for reading and writing. |
| 1829 | He publishes Procédé pour écrire les Paroles, la Musique et le Plain-chant au moyen de points in Paris, the first book on his method. |
| 1999 | Unicode 3.0, released in September, adds the Braille Patterns block: all 256 eight-dot patterns, U+2800 to U+28FF. |
| 2004 | In April, the International Council on English Braille declares Unified English Braille ready for adoption. |
| 2012 | On November 2, the Braille Authority of North America votes to adopt UEB in the United States. |
| 2016 | UEB takes effect in the US on January 4, Louis Braille's birthday. |
| 2019 | The UN marks the first official World Braille Day on January 4. |
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