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A braille adventure for curious kids

Read with your fingertips.

Braille is a way to read and write using little bumps called dots. People who are blind or can't see well read it by gently sliding their fingers across the page. Move your mouse or finger over the dots above and watch the light follow you.

Start the storyMake a letter

Meet the inventor

Louis Braille's big idea

Braille is named after the boy who invented it, when he was only 15 years old.

  1. 1809

    A baby in France

    Louis Braille was born on January 4, 1809, in Coupvray, a little village near Paris. His dad made leather saddles and harnesses for horses.

  2. Age 3

    An accident

    While playing in his dad's workshop, Louis hurt one eye with a sharp tool. An infection spread to his other eye, and by the time he was 5 he could not see at all.

  3. Age 10

    Off to school

    Louis went to a school for blind children in Paris. Its few books had giant raised letters. They were slow to read and so heavy!

  4. Age 12

    A code of dots

    An army captain named Charles Barbier visited with “night writing”, a code of raised dots meant to be read by touch. It was clever, but its cells had up to 12 dots and were hard to read.

  5. Age 15

    Just six dots

    Louis made it simpler: a cell of only six dots, small enough to feel with one fingertip. He finished his alphabet in 1824 and published it in a book in 1829.

  6. Today

    All over the world

    Louis grew up to be a teacher at his school. Today braille is used in many languages all over the world, and January 4, his birthday, is World Braille Day.

See the little dots in each card's corner? That's the number written in braille. You'll learn how to read it soon!

The braille cell

Six dots make every letter

Every braille letter fits in a cell: two columns of three dots, like the six on a domino. Dots 1, 2, 3 go down the left side. Dots 4, 5, 6 go down the right. A letter is just a pattern of raised dots.

Tap the dots in the big cell to raise them and see what letter you made.

No dots yet

Tap a dot to raise it.

Challenge: can you make h?

☆

Tap the dots, or use the number keys 1–6. Esc clears.

The alphabet

Learn 10, and you know 26

Braille has a secret pattern. Learn the first ten letters, and the rest follow by adding one dot at a time. Tap any letter to hear it.

a

a is dot 1

One of the first ten. After a number sign, it means 1.

a to j

The first ten letters only use the top four dots: 1, 2, 4 and 5.

k to t: add dot 3

Take a to j and add dot 3 (bottom left). a becomes k, b becomes l, and so on!

u to z: add dot 6

Take k to o and add dot 6 (bottom right). k becomes u, l becomes v, m becomes x…

Full alphabet: a: dots 1; b: dots 1 2; c: dots 1 4; d: dots 1 4 5; e: dots 1 5; f: dots 1 2 4; g: dots 1 2 4 5; h: dots 1 2 5; i: dots 2 4; j: dots 2 4 5; k: dots 1 3; l: dots 1 2 3; m: dots 1 3 4; n: dots 1 3 4 5; o: dots 1 3 5; p: dots 1 2 3 4; q: dots 1 2 3 4 5; r: dots 1 2 3 5; s: dots 2 3 4; t: dots 2 3 4 5; u: dots 1 3 6; v: dots 1 2 3 6; w: dots 2 4 5 6; x: dots 1 3 4 6; y: dots 1 3 4 5 6; z: dots 1 3 5 6.

Numbers

The number sign

There's a clever trick for numbers, too.

The number sign

Dots 3, 4, 5 and 6. It says “numbers coming!”

After the number sign, the letters a to j turn into the digits 1 to 0. So braille doesn't need ten new patterns for numbers at all.

  • 1=a
  • 2=b
  • 3=c
  • 4=d
  • 5=e
  • 6=f
  • 7=g
  • 8=h
  • 9=i
  • 0=j

Your age, your house number, how many pets you wish you had…

Your turn

Write your name in braille

See the lonely dot 6 marked ⇧? That's the capital sign. Braille has no big and small letters, so a capital sign goes in front of a capital letter.

Tip: turn on Feel mode and slide a finger over your name. Every dot buzzes!

The Perkins brailler

Type like a braille writer

A Perkins brailler is a typewriter for braille. It has just six keys, one for each dot, and you press them all at the same time to punch a whole letter into the paper.

Rest your fingers on F D S (dots 1, 2, 3) and J K L (dots 4, 5, 6). Try F + D + K together for h (dots 1, 2, 5). On a tablet, press the keys with several fingers.

Click here, then type with F D S and J K L

Braille reader quiz

What does it say?

Read the braille word, then pick the matching word. Use the alphabet above if you need a peek. That's how everyone learns!

Word 1 of 8

Feel it

Find the dots in the dark

Braille readers use touch, not eyes. Try it yourself! The mystery letter below only shows up under your fingertip. And if you switch on Feel at the top, every dot on this page ticks (and buzzes, on phones that can vibrate) when your finger slides over it.

Slide your finger or mouse over the paper.

The dots are hiding! Move your finger (or mouse) over the paper. The dots only appear right under your fingertip, and you hear a tick every time you touch one. Which letter is it?

Did you know?

Braille is everywhere

  • Look around

    You can find braille on elevator buttons, signs next to doors, and some medicine boxes. Next time, see if you can spot it!

  • A code, not a language

    Braille is a way of writing, like print. There is braille for English, Spanish, Japanese and lots more, and even for music and math.

  • Shortcuts

    This page uses uncontracted braille: every letter is spelled out. Many books also use contractions, short signs for common words, to save space.