English
Braille
The raised-dot alphabet people read with their fingertips.
Braille is a way to read and write by touch. Each letter is a cell of up to six raised dots, in two columns of three. People who are blind or have low vision run their fingertips along the dots to read.
Make a letter
Tap the dots to raise them, like the bumps on a page of braille.
That's the letter c
Raised dots: 1, 4
Write in braille
Your braille will appear here. Nothing you type is saved.
A capital letter has a capital sign (dot 6) in front of it. Numbers use the number sign (dots 3, 4, 5 and 6), then the letters a to j stand for 1 to 0.
The braille alphabet
Look for the pattern: k to t are a to j with dot 3 added, and u, v, x, y and z add dots 3 and 6. W is different because French, the language braille was made for, didn't use w at the time.
Fun facts
- Made by a teenagerLouis Braille, from France, lost his sight in an accident when he was 3. He invented his dot alphabet when he was only 15.
- From night writingBraille got the idea from “night writing”, a code of raised dots made so soldiers could read messages in the dark.
- Not a languageBraille is a way of writing, not a language. It can be used to write English, French, Chinese and many other languages.
- Look around youYou can often find braille on lift buttons, signs near doors and medicine boxes.
- Feel the moneyAustralia's newer banknotes have raised bumps on the edge so people can tell them apart by touch: one for $5, two for $10, and more for bigger notes.
- Fast fingersSkilled braille readers can read well over 100 words a minute, just by touch.