How to use the braille translator
Type text and it appears as braille, using the braille characters built into Unicode, so you can copy it into a document or a message. Paste braille characters into the box to translate them back into text. Swap moves the result back into the box.
Numbers start with the number sign, and capital letters are marked with the capital sign before the letter, or twice before a word written all in capitals. When a letter from A to J comes straight after a number, the translator adds the sign that shows the number has ended, as Unified English Braille requires.
How braille works
Each braille cell has six dot positions in two columns of three, numbered 1, 2 and 3 down the left and 4, 5 and 6 down the right. Raising different dots makes 63 possible patterns. The first ten letters, A to J, use only the top four dots; K to T add dot 3, and U, V, X, Y and Z add dots 3 and 6. W is the odd one out because French, the language braille was first designed for, did not use it much at the time.
Braille was developed by Louis Braille, a Frenchman who lost his sight as a child, and first published in 1829. Numbers reuse the letters A to J after the number sign, so 1 is the same pattern as A.
Grade 1 and Grade 2
This translator uses uncontracted braille, also called Grade 1, where every letter is written out. Most braille books and signs use contracted braille, or Grade 2, which has short forms for common words and letter groups, such as a single cell for and or the. Grade 2 contractions are not covered here, so text written in Grade 2 may not translate fully. For anything important, such as signs or documents for blind readers, check with a qualified braille transcriber.
Questions and answers
Which kind of braille does this use?
Uncontracted (Grade 1) Unified English Braille, the standard braille code for English in the UK, the USA and other English-speaking countries.
Can I print the braille?
You can print the characters, but ordinary printers cannot raise dots. Real braille needs an embosser or a braille writer.
Why do some cells come out as a question mark?
They are probably Grade 2 contractions or symbols this translator does not cover.
Who invented braille?
Louis Braille, who first published his system in 1829.