Braille Transcriber

Braille reuses its first ten letters for the digits, which is why a number sign goes in front of a run of figures — without it, 1 and A are the same cell and the reader has no way to tell. That is the sort of detail a transcription gets wrong quietly, so this puts the number sign in, takes it out again when reading back, and shows you that the text survived the trip.

Your text

Capitals and lower case come out the same; these codes have no case.

Your translation will appear here.

Or go the other way

Paste braille (uncontracted) here to read it as text.

The code

For example: ⠓⠑⠇⠇⠕

What this generator does

Turns each character into its six-dot cell, inserting the number sign before a run of digits, and reads its own output back to confirm the text survived.

How to use this tool

Type your text and transcribe it.
The cells appear as braille characters you can copy anywhere.
Paste braille into the second box to read it as text.
Digits are automatically preceded by the number sign.

Understanding the controls

Your text: Up to two thousand characters. Braille has no capitals in this uncontracted form, so case is not carried.
The code: Paste braille cells to read them as text. The number sign is understood and applied to the digits that follow it.

Common use cases

Preparing a short label or sign in braille
Reading braille cells somebody has sent you
Teaching the braille alphabet with a way to check the answer
Producing braille characters to paste into a document
Understanding why the number sign exists

How this generator works

The transcription is read back cell by cell and compared with what went in. Because braille's first ten letters double as its digits, the number sign is what tells them apart, and the round trip is the check that it was placed and understood correctly. The table is also checked to be one-to-one across letters and marks, and every cell to use dots one to six without repeating one.

Randomness and fairness

Nothing is random. The same text always gives the same cells.

For how randomness is produced across the whole site, see how Generate Random works.

Limitations and good to know

Uncontracted braille only. Contracted braille, which most published material uses, abbreviates common words and letter groups and is a much larger system.
This is not a substitute for a proper transcription service, and it does not follow any national braille standard's rules for layout.
Capitals are not marked, and the capital sign is not used.
Letters, digits and common punctuation only.

Privacy and your data

Transcription happens in your browser. Nothing you type is transmitted or stored.