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.