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Cipher Cove

Braille Translator

Type English to see it in braille, or paste braille cells to read them in English. This translator writes uncontracted braille, one cell per letter.

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How to use the braille translator

  1. Type or paste English in the English box. The braille appears as you type.
  2. Press Copy to paste the cells into a message, a document or a social post.
  3. To read braille, press the arrows between the two labels and paste the cells. If you paste braille into the English box, the translator offers to switch for you.

Capital letters and numbers get their signs automatically, so Room 101 becomes a capital sign, the letters, then a number sign and the digits.

The braille alphabet

Each 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. Every letter is a different pattern of raised dots. Tap a cell to copy it.

Capital, number and letter signs

The alphabet follows a pattern that makes it easier to learn:

  • A to J use only the top four dots, 1, 2, 4 and 5.
  • K to T are A to J with dot 3 added. K is A plus dot 3, L is B plus dot 3, and so on.
  • U, V, X, Y and Z are A to E with dots 3 and 6 added.
  • W breaks the pattern, with dots 2, 4, 5 and 6. French braille, which the English system grew from, had no W when Louis Braille designed it.

Numbers and punctuation

Braille has no separate digits. A number sign, dots 3, 4, 5 and 6, turns the letters A to J into the numbers 1 to 0 until a space or another character ends the number. So 2026 is the number sign followed by B, J, B and F.

The translator writes these punctuation marks from Unified English Braille:

  • Comma: dot 2
  • Full stop: dots 2, 5 and 6
  • Question mark: dots 2, 3 and 6
  • Exclamation mark: dots 2, 3 and 5
  • Apostrophe: dot 3
  • Hyphen: dots 3 and 6
  • Semicolon: dots 2 and 3
  • Colon: dots 2 and 5

Grade 1 and Grade 2 braille

Uncontracted braille spells every word letter by letter, which is how most people start learning. Contracted braille saves space: single cells stand for whole words such as "and", "for" and "the", and for groups of letters such as "ing" and "ch". Grade 2 is what most adult braille readers use day to day.

Because this translator writes uncontracted braille, a braille reader will understand it, but it is longer than the braille they usually read. That is fine for learning, for puzzles and for messages, but not a replacement for professional transcription.

A short history of braille

Louis Braille, who lost his sight as a young child, published his system in 1829 while a student at the Royal Institute for Blind Youth in Paris. He based it on night writing, a code of raised dots that Charles Barbier designed for soldiers to read without light, and simplified it to a six-dot cell that fits under one fingertip. English-speaking countries adopted Unified English Braille, the version used here, in the 2010s, including the United States in 2016.

For other ways to write the alphabet, try the Morse code translator or the Standard Galactic Alphabet translator.

Frequently asked questions

What kind of braille does this translator use?

Uncontracted braille, also called Grade 1, in Unified English Braille: one cell for each letter, plus signs for capitals and numbers. Most books and signs for adult readers use contracted braille, Grade 2, where many common words and letter groups have their own short forms. This translator does not write or read those contractions.

Can I print this braille for a blind reader?

Printed dots on paper are flat, so they cannot be read by touch. Braille for readers is embossed with a braille printer or a slate and stylus. For anything important, such as signs, labels or documents, ask a certified braille transcriber, who will also use contractions.

How are capital letters written in braille?

A capital sign, dot 6, goes before the letter. Two capital signs in a row mean the whole word is in capitals, so HELLO starts with two capital signs. The translator adds both kinds for you.

How are numbers written in braille?

Numbers use the first ten letters, A to J, after a number sign, dots 3, 4, 5 and 6. A is 1, B is 2 and so on, with J as 0. If a letter from A to J comes straight after a number, a letter sign, dots 5 and 6, shows that it is a letter again.

Why do I see boxes instead of dots?

The braille cells are standard Unicode characters, from U+2800 to U+28FF. Most phones and computers have a font for them, but some older systems do not. Try another app or browser if the dots do not appear.

What happens to symbols the translator does not know?

They stay as they are, and a note under the box lists them. That covers characters like & and @ and brackets, which have longer signs in Unified English Braille. When you read braille back, cells that are not letters, numbers or the common punctuation marks are listed too, which often means the text uses contractions.

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