Learn Braille in ten minutes

Braille is a brilliant tactile system that allows blind people to read and write using touch. It may look complex at first glance, but in just ten minutes, you’ll understand how it works — and even start reading your first Braille words.

Table of Contents

1. Why learn Braille?
2. The Structure
3. The Alphabet
4. Capital letters
5. The Numbers
6. The Punctuation
7. Conclusions

Why learn Braille?

Even if you’re not blind, learning the basics of Braille can be:

• 🧠 A fun mental challenge
• 🤝 A gesture of inclusion and respect
• 🧑‍🏫 A useful skill for teachers, parents, and caregivers
• 💡 A way to better understand how accessibility really works

You don't need to memorize hundreds of symbols — just six little dots, arranged in smart patterns. In ten minutes, you'll be able to read your first Braille words. Let's begin.

The Structure

Each Braille character is enclosed in a grid of 2x3 dots. The on/off combination of dots in the grid makes up a character. The grid is called a Braille cell. Each grid point is figuratively numbered. The figure opposite shows the rectangle of a Braille cell. Each circle is numbered and represents the position of a Braille dot.

The Alphabet

The Braille alphabet is identical to the English alphabet. What changes is the graphic representation of the letters. While in English the letters are drawn with rods and curves, in Braille the same letters are drawn in tactile dots. Depending on the state of the tactile dots in the Braille cell (raised or lowered), all the letters of the alphabet are formed. Below is the table with all the letters of the alphabet and their representation in Braille.

Examples

Capital Letters

Letters in upper case have the same shape as those in lower case. To identify an uppercase character, you put a Braille symbol in front of it, which is called a capital sign. The uppercase sign is a cell with dots 6 (⠠). To identify a word written entirely in uppercase, put two Capital Signs (⠠⠠) in front of the word.

Examples

The Numbers

Braille numbers are made up of the first ten letters of the alphabet and a symbol called the Number Sign. The number sign is a cell with the dots 3456 (⠼). In the presence of a numerical sequence, the Number Sign is placed before the first digit only.

Example

The Punctuation

Punctuation does not follow any particular rules, it is used as in the English language. The following table contains the main punctuation symbols.

Conclusions

The beauty of Braille lies in its simplicity: with just six dots and a bit of logic, you can start reading in ten minutes. Like any language, it takes practice to become fluent — but now you know the foundations.

This guide comes from over 15 years of my work with Braille and accessible technologies. If you found it helpful, I kindly ask you to share the link rather than copy the content. By doing so, you support the right way to spread knowledge and give credit where it's due.

Thank you for reading, and welcome to the world of Braille.

⠠⠞⠓⠁⠝⠅⠀⠽⠕⠥⠀⠋⠕⠗⠀⠗⠑⠁⠙⠊⠝⠛⠂⠀⠁⠝⠙⠀⠺⠑⠇⠉⠕⠍⠑⠀⠞⠕⠀⠞⠓⠑⠀⠺⠕⠗⠇⠙⠀⠕⠋⠀⠠⠃⠗⠁⠊⠇⠇⠑⠲

This article was born from years of passion, experience, and a deep commitment to accessibility. If it helped you or inspired you, please consider sharing it by quoting a part and linking to the original page. It’s a simple way to show respect for the work behind it — and to help others discover it too.

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