Reference

Braille alphabet and numbers chart

The whole code on one page: the alphabet, the numbers, the indicators and the punctuation, each cell with its dot numbers. Laid out to print cleanly in black and white on a single sheet.

Download PDF (US Letter)Download PDF (A4)

Take it with you

The chart above is also a one-page PDF — every letter, the ten digits with the number sign, the indicators and the single-cell punctuation, each cell drawn with all six dot positions and its dot numbers underneath. Free, no sign-up, and it prints without a scaling dialog: US Letter or A4.

Teachers and braille transcribers are welcome to copy, print and hand it out. The two-cell punctuation symbols are on the punctuation page, since a one-cell grid cannot show them honestly.

Alphabet

1-2

1-4

1-4-5

1-5

1-2-4

1-2-4-5

1-2-5

2-4

2-4-5

1-3

1-2-3

1-3-4

1-3-4-5

1-3-5

1-2-3-4

1-2-3-4-5

1-2-3-5

2-3-4

2-3-4-5

1-3-6

1-2-3-6

2-4-5-6

1-3-4-6

1-3-4-5-6

1-3-5-6

Numbers

Each digit is the number sign (dots 3-4-5-6) followed by the letter shown. How numbers work in full covers what opens a numeric run and what closes it, which is where most mistakes happen.

j · 2-4-5

a · 1

b · 1-2

c · 1-4

d · 1-4-5

e · 1-5

f · 1-2-4

g · 1-2-4-5

h · 1-2-5

i · 2-4

Indicators

Cells that change how the cells after them are read
Indicator	Dots	What it does
Number sign	3-4-5-6	Turns the following letters a-j into the digits 1-9 and 0.
Capital letter sign	6	Capitalises the single letter that follows.
Capital word sign	6	Written twice. Capitalises the whole word that follows.
Letter sign	5-6	Marks a letter as standing for itself, not a contraction.
Grade 1 symbol	5-6	Suspends contraction rules for the next symbol.

Punctuation

Punctuation in Unified English Braille
Symbol	Name	Dots
`,`	Comma	2
`;`	Semicolon	2-3
`:`	Colon	2-5
`.`	Full stop / period	2-5-6
`?`	Question mark	2-3-6
`!`	Exclamation mark	2-3-5
`'`	Apostrophe	3
`-`	Hyphen	3-6
`(`	Opening parenthesis	5 1-2-6
`)`	Closing parenthesis	5 3-4-5
`/`	Slash	4-5-6 3-4
`@`	At sign	4 1
`#`	Number / hash sign	4-5-6 1-4-5-6
`$`	Dollar sign	4 2-3-4
`%`	Percent sign	4-6 3-5-6
`&`	Ampersand	4 1-2-3-4-6
`*`	Asterisk	5 3-5
`+`	Plus sign	5 2-3-5
`=`	Equals sign	5 2-3-5-6
`"`	Double quotes	2-3-6 3-5-6

The alphabet as an image, if you need a file rather than a printout

The letters section above as a single PNG, for a slide, a message or a handout put together somewhere other than a browser.

A chart of the braille alphabet: all 26 letters as six-dot cells, each labelled with its letter and the numbers of the dots that are raised.

Download the PNG — CC BY 4.0.