Reference
Braille Alphabet
The braille alphabet uses a cell of six dots, arranged in two columns of three, to represent each letter. Different dot patterns spell A to Z. The chart below shows every letter, and numbers reuse the first ten letters with a number sign in front.
How braille cells work
Each braille cell has six possible dot positions, numbered 1 to 6, in two columns. A letter is defined by which of those dots are raised. The first ten letters, A to J, use only the top four positions.
Letters K to T repeat the A-to-J patterns with an extra dot in the bottom left. U, V, X, Y and Z add the bottom right too. This regular structure makes the alphabet quicker to learn than it first appears.
Numbers and Louis Braille
Numbers reuse the letters A to J (so A is 1, J is 0) with a number sign placed before them to signal that digits follow. Our braille translator adds this number sign automatically.
The system was created by Louis Braille in France in 1824, when he was only fifteen. Blind since childhood, he adapted a military night-writing code into the compact six-dot cell that blind readers around the world still use today.
Frequently asked questions
Who invented braille?
Louis Braille, a French teenager who was blind, created the system in 1824 by adapting a military night-writing code into a simple six-dot cell that could be read quickly by touch.
How are numbers written in braille?
Numbers reuse the letters A to J with a number sign in front. So A after a number sign means 1, and J means 0.
Is this the same as Grade 2 braille?
No. This chart shows Grade 1 braille, where each cell is one letter. Grade 2 adds contractions for common words and letter groups to save space.