Braille

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Braille characters

a girl reading Braille

The alphabet and the digits 0–9 in the modern Braille system. Each letter or digit consists of six “cells” that are either embossed or left blank to form a unique pattern. Large dots indicate raised cells; smaller dots indicate cells that are left blank.

For Students

Braille summary

Read Next

Still from the film Deliverance, 1919. The story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan. View shows Keller in the cockpit/front seat of an airplane.

How Did Helen Keller Fly a Plane?

Joan of Arc, in the presence of Charles VII, King of France, answers the questions of the prelates; she anounces her mission and the visions which have revealed her task. Gillot Saint-Evre, Oil on Canvas, 142 x 167 cm. In the Louvre, Paris, France (notes)

6 Teenagers Who Made History

bat flying

Are Bats Really Blind?

A ginger cat sleeps in his soft cozy bed on a floor carpet, soft focus

Lay, Lie, Lied, Lain: When Do We Use Which?

Happy, smiling, flying pig

7 Everyday English Idioms and Where They Come From

Discover

Artist interpretation of space asteroids impacting earth and moon. Meteoroids, meteor impact, end of the world, danger, destruction, dinosaur extinct, Judgement Day, Doomsday Predictions, comet

Major Mass Extinctions

Close up of praying mantis walking on stone ground against a blurred background in Japan

6 Animals That Eat Their Mates

Middle East bee locator map

Are the Middle East and the Near East the Same Thing?

Salem Witch Trials. Photogravure after the painting by Walter McEwen titled - The Witches - circa 1890s.

How Rye Bread May Have Caused the Salem Witch Trials

Demystified - Do Lemmings Really Commit Mass Suicide? illustration

Do Lemmings Really Commit Mass Suicide?

Statue of Nostradamus

Nostradamus and His Prophecies

Estimated battle casualties, Normandy invasion, World War II. WWII, D-Day

Estimated Battle Casualties During the Normandy Invasion and Campaign to Liberate Paris (June–August 1944)

Braille: Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: May 27, 2025

News •

Charity hopes more people in Jersey will learn Braille • May 26, 2025, 6:14 AM ET (BBC)

Photos

Braille characters

a girl reading Braille

The alphabet and the digits 0–9 in the modern Braille system. Each letter or digit consists of six “cells” that are either embossed or left blank to form a unique pattern. Large dots indicate raised cells; smaller dots indicate cells that are left blank.

See All Images →

Topics

Hall Braille writer Nemeth Code of Braille Mathematics and Scientific Notation Standard English Braille blindness writing system Moon type cryptology hieroglyphic writing punctuation cuneiform shorthand phonetic transcription Linear A and Linear B ogham writing Quoc-ngu

Key People

Louis Braille

Louis Braille

French educator