The Braille Alphabet

The basic grid of a Braille alphabet character consists of six dots, positioned like the figure six on a die, in two parallel vertical lines of three dots each. From the six dots that make up the basic grid, 64 different signs can be created. Reading direction of Braille is the same as for regular type and the rules for hyphenation that apply for regular fonts also apply in Braille. The European Commission's guidance on Braille requirements for labelling and packaging The Braille Authority of North America guidelines and the European Blind Union guidelines for European pharmaceutical companies and distributors/marketing agencies recommend that an un-contracted Braille alpahabet system conforming to the Marburg Medium format should be used. In un-contracted Braille, every individual letter of the alphabet, punctuation mark etc. is represented by its own Braille character(s).

Braille Alphabet Letters—Internationally Standardised

Note: It is recommended that there is no capitalisation in Braille text on pharmaceutical cartons.

Braille Numbers—Internationally Standardised

Numbers use the same Braille characters as the letter symbols A to J

Note: When indicating numbers the number sign proceeds the number symbols to differentiate them from letter symbols A to J. The number is always terminated with a space. See example below.

Note: IADD Can-Am Braille requires a letter sign to be inserted between numbers and letters when numbers are immediately followed by letters. See example below.

Punctuation Marks

Note: In ink print, thousand separators and decimal places may be either “.” or “,” depending on the country, but in Braille they are usually as shown above.

Examples of Nationally Different Special Braille Alphabet Characters in Europe

Larger special Braille alphabet characters table

Note: While every care has been taken to check the accuracy of the symbols used in each language, because there is no single Braille authority we cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.