UEB Translator

UEB Braille Chart

One printable page: letters, digits, punctuation, indicators and the contractions you meet most.

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The chart

100 signs. Prints on one sheet of Letter or A4 paper at 100% scale.

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Filled dots are raised and rings are flat positions. Dots 1, 2 and 3 run down the left of the cell and dots 4, 5 and 6 down the right. (ICEB 1.1.1)

Letters

  • adot 1
  • bdots 1-2
  • cdots 1-4
  • ddots 1-4-5
  • edots 1-5
  • fdots 1-2-4
  • gdots 1-2-4-5
  • hdots 1-2-5
  • idots 2-4
  • jdots 2-4-5
  • kdots 1-3
  • ldots 1-2-3
  • mdots 1-3-4
  • ndots 1-3-4-5
  • odots 1-3-5
  • pdots 1-2-3-4
  • qdots 1-2-3-4-5
  • rdots 1-2-3-5
  • sdots 2-3-4
  • tdots 2-3-4-5
  • udots 1-3-6
  • vdots 1-2-3-6
  • wdots 2-4-5-6
  • xdots 1-3-4-6
  • ydots 1-3-4-5-6
  • zdots 1-3-5-6

Numbers

The numeric indicator (dots 3-4-5-6) and then a to j. One indicator starts each number.

  • 1dots 3-4-5-6 1
  • 2dots 3-4-5-6 1-2
  • 3dots 3-4-5-6 1-4
  • 4dots 3-4-5-6 1-4-5
  • 5dots 3-4-5-6 1-5
  • 6dots 3-4-5-6 1-2-4
  • 7dots 3-4-5-6 1-2-4-5
  • 8dots 3-4-5-6 1-2-5
  • 9dots 3-4-5-6 2-4
  • 0dots 3-4-5-6 2-4-5

Punctuation

  • .dots 2-5-6 full stop
  • ,dot 2 comma
  • ?dots 2-3-6 question
  • !dots 2-3-5 exclamation
  • ;dots 2-3 semicolon
  • :dots 2-5 colon
  • ’dot 3 apostrophe
  • -dots 3-6 hyphen
  • –dots 6 3-6 dash
  • “dots 2-3-6 open quote
  • ”dots 3-5-6 close quote
  • (dots 5 1-2-6 open bracket
  • )dots 5 3-4-5 close bracket
  • /dots 4-5-6 3-4 slash

Indicators

Signs that tell you how to read the cells after them.

  • capitaldot 6
  • capital worddots 6 6
  • numericdots 3-4-5-6
  • grade 1dots 5-6

Letters as whole words (Grade 2)

Standing alone, these letters are the words shown.

  • butdots 1-2
  • candots 1-4
  • dodots 1-4-5
  • everydots 1-5
  • fromdots 1-2-4
  • godots 1-2-4-5
  • havedots 1-2-5
  • justdots 2-4-5
  • knowledgedots 1-3
  • likedots 1-2-3
  • moredots 1-3-4
  • notdots 1-3-4-5
  • peopledots 1-2-3-4
  • quitedots 1-2-3-4-5
  • ratherdots 1-2-3-5
  • sodots 2-3-4
  • thatdots 2-3-4-5
  • usdots 1-3-6
  • verydots 1-2-3-6
  • willdots 2-4-5-6
  • itdots 1-3-4-6
  • youdots 1-3-4-5-6
  • asdots 1-3-5-6

Words and letter groups in one cell (Grade 2)

and, for, of, the and with, then letter groups; a word under a group is its meaning standing alone.

  • anddots 1-2-3-4-6
  • fordots 1-2-3-4-5-6
  • ofdots 1-2-3-5-6
  • thedots 2-3-4-6
  • withdots 2-3-4-5-6
  • chdots 1-6 child
  • ghdots 1-2-6
  • shdots 1-4-6 shall
  • thdots 1-4-5-6 this
  • whdots 1-5-6 which
  • eddots 1-2-4-6
  • erdots 1-2-4-5-6
  • oudots 1-2-5-6 out
  • owdots 2-4-6
  • stdots 3-4 still
  • ingdots 3-4-6
  • ardots 3-4-5

Lower cells as whole words (Grade 2)

Standing alone, these lower cells are words.

  • bedots 2-3
  • enoughdots 2-6
  • weredots 2-3-5-6
  • hisdots 2-3-6
  • indots 3-5
  • wasdots 3-5-6

Reading the chart

After the numeric indicator ⠼, the letters a to j are the digits 1 to 9 and 0. (ICEB 6.1)

A capital is dot 6 ⠠ in front of the letter. (ICEB 8.3.1)

Grade 2 adds contractions: signs for whole words and for groups of letters. (ICEB 2.5) The last three groups are Grade 2 only, and each sign in them is one cell. A letter on its own, other than a, i or o, takes the grade 1 indicator ⠰ so that it is not read as a whole word. (ICEB 2.6.1, 5.2.1, 5.7.1)

UEB also has contractions of two or more cells, and shortforms, which are abbreviated spellings of particular words. The braille contractions page lists all 180.

If an older chart shows different signs

Brackets, dashes and words such as “to” and “by” differ on some charts made before UEB. Older codes, such as EBAE, the retired US code, used some contractions and signs that UEB dropped or changed. (ICEB 1.3.1–1.3.3) For every meaning of each letter’s cell, see the braille alphabet.

The chart as an image

The same chart as one image, for a worksheet, a slide or a classroom wall: a PNG of 1200 by 2672 pixels, or an SVG that scales to any size.

Download the chart as PNGDownload the chart as SVG

Show the imageUnified English Braille chart: the letters a to z, the digits 1 to 0 with the numeric indicator, common punctuation, the capital, numeric and grade 1 indicators, and the one-cell Grade 2 contractions for common words, each braille cell with its dot numbers.

What this chart does not cover

  • Nemeth Code, music braille and braille for other languages. The chart is Unified English Braille (UEB) only.
  • Contractions of two or more cells, and shortforms. The braille contractions page has all of them.

Questions

Can I print this chart in braille?

Not on a normal printer: the dots come out as flat ink, which a finger cannot read. Braille on paper needs an embosser, and the braille generator makes a BRF file for one.

Why are there words on a braille chart?

In Grade 2, single cells stand for common words such as and, the and you, and for groups of letters such as th and ing. The chart includes these one-cell contractions.

Which braille code does this chart use?

Unified English Braille (UEB), the code English-speaking braille authorities use today. It does not cover Nemeth Code, music braille or other languages.

  • Braille Alphabet

    The 26 letters, their dot numbers, and the pattern that lets you learn them ten at a time.

  • Braille Contractions

    Every Grade 2 contraction in Unified English Braille, generated from the engine, with a lookup that names the contractions in any word.

  • Text to Braille Generator

    Turn English into large braille cells you can print, save as an image, or send to an embosser as a BRF file.

  • Braille Numbers

    How the numeric indicator turns the first ten letters into digits, and what happens with dates, times, decimals and fractions.

Rules: Rules of Unified English Braille, Third Edition 2024, cited by section number. Braille examples come from liblouis 3.39.0. All sources and when they were checked