⠃ Braille Translator
⠠⠓⠑⠇⠇⠕⠂⠀⠠⠺⠕⠗⠇⠙⠖
Translates English letters and digits into standard 6-dot Braille (Grade 1, uncontracted) using Unicode Braille Patterns. Useful for learning Braille or checking how a piece of text would be represented. Capital letters automatically get a preceding capital sign, and runs of digits get a preceding number sign.
How to use
- Enter the English text you want to translate.
- It's converted to Unicode Braille Patterns automatically.
- Any unsupported character is shown as-is, with a notice listing which characters weren't translated.
How the calculation works
This tool converts English text into braille one character at a time (Grade 1, uncontracted) and shows it with Unicode Braille Patterns (U+2800–U+28FF). A braille cell has six dots in two columns of three. The left column is numbered 1, 2, 3 from top to bottom and the right column 4, 5, 6, and each character is a combination of raised dots. In Unicode, dots 1 to 6 are worth 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32; add up the raised dots and add the total to U+2800 to get the cell. For example, "d" (dots 1, 4, 5) is 1 + 8 + 16 = 25, so it is U+2819 (⠙). A capital sign (dot 6) goes before each capital letter, and a number sign (dots 3, 4, 5, 6) goes before a run of digits, which use the cells for a to j. When a lowercase a–j follows a number directly, a grade 1 indicator (dots 5, 6) is inserted so it is not read as another digit. Commas and periods inside a number, as in "1,000" or "3.14", do not repeat the number sign.
Worked example
Input: Hello, World! Output: ⠠⠓⠑⠇⠇⠕⠂⠀⠠⠺⠕⠗⠇⠙⠖ ⠠ is the capital sign, ⠂ the comma, ⠀ a blank cell, and ⠖ the exclamation mark. Input: Room 101 Output: ⠠⠗⠕⠕⠍⠀⠼⠁⠚⠁ ⠼ is the number sign, and ⠁⠚⠁ stands for 1, 0, 1. Input: 1a Output: ⠼⠁⠰⠁ (without ⠰ it would read as "11")
Things to be aware of
- Japanese braille (kana braille) is not supported. Japanese characters are passed through unchanged.
- Grade 2 (contracted) braille, which uses abbreviations for common words, is not supported.
- All-caps words (such as ABC) get a capital sign before each letter. The Unified English Braille (UEB) capitalized-word indicator is not used.
- The on-screen patterns are for visual reference. To produce real braille documents, use a braille embosser and dedicated software.
FAQ
Does this support other languages' Braille systems?
No, the current version only supports Grade 1 English Braille (letters, digits, and basic punctuation).
Does this support Grade 2 (contracted) Braille?
No, this only supports Grade 1 (uncontracted) Braille, which spells every character out rather than using word contractions.
How are capital letters represented?
A capital sign (dot 6) is automatically inserted before a capital letter's cell. A number sign (dots 3-4-5-6) is inserted before a run of digits.