How to convert text into braille unicode
Braille writes letters as patterns of six raised dots, and Unicode encodes those patterns as characters starting at U+2800. This tool maps English letters, digits and basic punctuation onto those braille characters. It is useful for comparing a letter with its dot pattern while learning, or for showing the shape of braille in a slide or a design mockup.
The supported range is stated plainly. Only the 26 English letters, the digits 0 to 9, and eight punctuation marks — comma, semicolon, colon, period, question mark, exclamation mark, apostrophe and hyphen — are converted. A number sign is placed once in front of a run of digits, and you can choose whether capitals get the capital sign. Anything not in the table is passed through untouched rather than guessed at, and the count of passed-through characters is shown with the result.
Korean braille is not supported, because it is a separate system with its own rules for initial, medial and final consonants, and applying an English table to it produces wrong output. Grade 2 contracted braille is not supported either, so the result will differ from most published braille, which contracts common words. For documents that will actually be read by touch, use dedicated transcription software and have a qualified transcriber review the result.
Frequently asked questions
No. Those use separate braille systems with different rules, so such characters are left exactly as they were instead of being mapped to the English table. The summary shows how many characters were passed through.
Published braille usually uses Grade 2 contractions, which shorten common words and letter groups. This tool only produces Grade 1, where each character maps to one cell, so the patterns look different.
| Letter | Braille | Letter | Braille |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | ⠁ | b | ⠃ |
| c | ⠉ | d | ⠙ |
| e | ⠑ | f | ⠋ |
| g | ⠛ | h | ⠓ |
| i | ⠊ | j | ⠚ |
| k | ⠅ | l | ⠇ |
| m | ⠍ | n | ⠝ |
| o | ⠕ | p | ⠏ |
| q | ⠟ | r | ⠗ |
| s | ⠎ | t | ⠞ |
| u | ⠥ | v | ⠧ |
| w | ⠺ | x | ⠭ |
| y | ⠽ | z | ⠵ |
| Punctuation | Braille |
|---|---|
| , (comma) | ⠂ |
| ; (semicolon) | ⠆ |
| : (colon) | ⠒ |
| . (period) | ⠲ |
| ? (question mark) | ⠦ |
| ! (exclamation mark) | ⠖ |
| ' (apostrophe) | ⠄ |
| - (hyphen) | ⠤ |