Braille Explained: Six Dots and Embossers

Each braille character is a cell of up to six raised dots.

Two columns of three dots give 64 possible characters, including the blank space. Braille can be punched by hand, typed on a mechanical brailler or embossed by a printer, and it is two centuries old.

Updated 16 October 2026 · 5 sources

Raised, not flat
One shared code
Shorthand saves space
Literacy by touch

Compare methods

THE SHORT ANSWER

A code,
not a language.

Braille represents letters, numbers and punctuation.
Each country sets its own rules for using it.

THE CELL

Two columns of three

RNIB explains that braille is based on cells of six dots, numbered one to six from top left to bottom right. With the blank cell there are 64 braille characters.

Compare methods

WRITING IT

Mirror writing, then machines

With a hand frame the writer presses dots into the back of the paper, so they work backwards. Mechanical braillers let people write braille the way they read it.

How it's made

EVERYDAY USE

Labels as much as books

RNIB says braille is used in small daily doses too: medication, food labels and bank statements. Medicine packaging tops the list of uses in its survey.

See the numbers

A small clear label with raised braille dots stuck on a plain glass storage jar in a kitchen — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

FOUR THINGS TO GET RIGHT

Braille that
really reads.

Useful if you are making signs, labels or documents for braille readers.

Use the UK code
The UK's official code is Unified English Braille, which replaced Standard English Braille after a transition ending in 2015.
Make sure the dots are raised
Braille is read by touch, so flat printed dots do not work. RNIB notes a worrying number of 'braille fails' on signage.
Choose the right grade
Uncontracted (grade 1) spells everything out and every braille reader knows it. Contracted (grade 2) uses shorthand and is used for almost all books and magazines.
Ask for it in braille
RNIB found requesting information in braille from banks and from local and national government was common among braillists.

TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING

Fewer readers,
daily use.

One figure for how many use braille,
one for how often braillists use it.

≈ 7%

Registered blind or partially sighted people who use braille

RNIB's estimate. Many use braille in small daily doses, for medication, food labels and bank statements, rather than for long reading.

WHO USES IT · RNIB

3 in 4

Survey respondents using braille at least several times a week

More than half used it daily, in RNIB's Braille 200 research with adults who know braille. Medication packaging was the most common use.

HOW OFTEN · RNIB 2024

In the same research, 79 percent of participants reached their level of confidence in braille within two years, and six in 10 learnt it at school or for education.

A QUICK METHOD CHECK

How is the
braille made?

Pick a method to see how it works. The bar runs from the oldest, most manual methods to the newest digital ones.

Based on RNIB's guidance and its Ten essential braille facts.

Method check

Choose a methodHand frame and stylusUpward writing frameMechanical braillerBraille embosserBraille display

Hand frame and stylusWritten backwards

A frame with rows of small holes guides a stylus that presses dots into thick paper. The writer works right to left so the dots read correctly when the sheet is turned over.

Upward writing frameLeft to right

A hollow-ended stylus raises the dots towards the writer, so they can work left to right. RNIB says these are less common.

Mechanical braillerLike a typewriter

Often called a braille typewriter. Mechanical braillers let people write braille the same way round as they read it.

Braille embosserA braille printer

RNIB lists embossers alongside hand frames and braillers as one of the main ways braille is produced.

Braille displayRefreshable

A braille display can pair with a phone or computer so users can read emails and screens and write in braille.

Sources: RNIB, Ten essential braille facts; RNIB, Braille at 200.

A metal braille hand frame clamped over thick paper, with a small stylus beside it on a wooden desk — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

SHORTHAND IN DOTS

Contracted braille
saves space.

Contracted braille adds signs for common words and letter groups, such as THE, FOR, ING and SH, and single letters can stand for words: b for but, h for have. RNIB says this makes braille quicker to read and write, and books much less bulky.

Numbers use the first ten letters with a number sign in front, made from dots 3, 4, 5 and 6. Braille was developed in the 1820s by a teenager adapting a 12-dot system soldiers used to communicate in the dark.

In conversation

Questions people ask

How does braille work?

Each character is a cell of six possible dots in two columns of three. Different combinations represent letters, numbers, punctuation, words and even music, read by touch.

What is the difference between grade 1 and grade 2 braille?

Uncontracted (grade 1) spells out each letter. Contracted (grade 2) adds signs for common words and letter groups, so it is quicker to read and takes less space.

How many people use braille in the UK?

RNIB estimates about 7 percent of people registered blind or partially sighted use braille, many in small daily ways such as labels and medication.

How is braille printed?

By hand with a frame and stylus, on a mechanical brailler, or with an embosser. Braille displays offer a refreshable digital alternative linked to phones and computers.

Which braille code does the UK use?

Unified English Braille (UEB), adopted by the UK Association of Accessible Formats in 2011, replaced Standard English Braille after a transition to the end of 2015.

Sources

Each figure on this page comes from the sources below.

Print you read
with your fingers.