How to Read the Braille Alphabet

Braille is built from a cell of six dot positions, arranged in two columns of three. Each letter, number, and punctuation mark is a specific pattern of raised dots within that cell. By convention the positions are numbered 1-2-3 down the left column and 4-5-6 down the right.

The first ten letters, A through J, use only the top four dots. The letter A is a single dot (position 1), B is two dots down the left (1-2), and C adds the top-right (1-4). Learning this first group makes the rest easier.

The next ten letters, K through T, simply repeat the A-through-J patterns with dot 3 added at the bottom left. So K is A plus dot 3, L is B plus dot 3, and so on. This structure is why braille is quicker to learn than it first looks.

The final letters U, V, X, Y, and Z add dot 6 as well, and W is a special case (it was added later, since the original French braille didn't use the letter). This tool spells any text out in these standard Grade 1 patterns.

Numbers reuse the letters A through J: a number sign (dots 3-4-5-6) tells the reader that the following letters stand for digits, so A-J become 1 through 0. A capital sign (dot 6) before a letter marks it as uppercase.

What this tool produces is Grade 1, or uncontracted, braille, where every letter is written out. Experienced readers use Grade 2, which adds contractions, single cells that stand for common words and letter groups, to read and write faster.