Braille and Computers

There are several ways to get braille from computers. One way is with a braille translation program, such as MegaDots. A braille translation program addresses the issues of braille characters sequences (the word think has only 3 braille characters), and the issues of braille format.

Another approach for braille transcribers is direct braille entry. Direct braille entry means that the data entry is entirely in braille. The computer is merely used as an editing system for the braille.

In either approach, your computer needs to know how to send braille data to your braille embosser. The basic unit of braille is the braille cell. It is composed of six dots: the upper left dot is dot 1, the middle left dot is dot 2, the lower left dot is dot 3, the upper right dot is dot 4, the middle right dot is dot 5, and the lower right dot is dot 6. From these six dots you can get 64 possible combinations.

dot 1 ** dot 4
dot 2 ** dot 5
dot 3 ** dot 6

To simplify the production of braille on computers, there is a standard arrangment for representing braille in a computer file. There is a standard linking of the 64 braille symbols with the ASCII characters. This is shown in the following ASCII chart. If you had some braille stored in a computer file, this chart shows how to reconstruct the braille. For each ASCII character This chart has four columns: the decimal and the hexadecimal (base 16) number and the associated ASCII character plus its associated braille dot pattern. Control characters do not have associated braille dot pattern.

32 20 space
33 21 ! dots 2,3,4,6
34 22 " dot 5
35 23 # dots 3,4,5,6
36 24 $ dots 1,2,4,6
37 25 % dots 1,4,6
38 26 & dots 1,2,3,4,6
39 27 ' dot 3
40 28 ( dots 1,2,3,5,6
41 29 ) dots 2,3,4,5,6
42 2A * dots 1,6
43 2B + dots 3,4,6
44 2C , dot 6
45 2D - dots 3,6
46 2E . dots 4,6
47 2F / dots 3,4
48 30 0 dots 3,5,6
49 31 1 dot 2
50 32 2 dots 2,3
51 33 3 dots 2,5
52 34 4 dots 2,5,6
53 35 5 dots 2,6
54 36 6 dots 2,3,5
55 37 7 dots 2,3,5,6
56 38 8 dots 2,3,6
57 39 9 dots 3,5
58 3A : dots 1,5,6
59 3B ; dots 5,6
60 3C < dots 1,2,6
61 3D = dots 1,2,3,4,5,6
62 3E > dots 3,4,5
63 3F ? dots 1,4,5,6
64 40 @ dot 4
65 41 A dot 1
66 42 B dots 1,2
67 43 C dots 1,4
68 44 D dots 1,4,5
69 45 E dots 1,5
70 46 F dots 1,2,4
71 47 G dots 1,2,4,5
72 48 H dots 1,2,5
73 49 I dots 2,4
74 4A J dots 2,4,5
75 4B K dots 1,3
76 4C L dots 1,2,3
77 4D M dots 1,3,4
78 4E N dots 1,3,4,5
79 4F O dots 1,3,5
80 50 P dots 1,2,3,4
81 51 Q dots 1,2,3,4,5
82 52 R dots 1,2,3,5
83 53 S dots 2,3,4
84 54 T dots 2,3,4,5
85 55 U dots 1,3,6
86 56 V dots 1,2,3,6
87 57 W dots 2,4,5,6
88 58 X dots 1,3,4,6
89 59 Y dots 1,3,4,5,6
90 5A Z dots 1,3,5,6
91 5B [ dots 2,4,6
92 5C \ dots 1,2,5,6
93 5D ] dots 1,2,4,5,6
94 5E ^ dots 4,5
95 5F _ dots 4,5,6
96 60 ` dot 4
97 61 a dot 1
98 62 b dots 1,2
99 63 c dots 1,4
100 64 d dots 1,4,5
101 65 e dots 1,5
102 66 f dots 1,2,4
103 67 g dots 1,2,4,5
104 68 h dots 1,2,5
105 69 i dots 2,4
106 6A j dots 2,4,5
107 6B k dots 1,3
108 6C l dots 1,2,3
109 6D m dots 1,3,4
110 6E n dots 1,3,4,5
111 6F o dots 1,3,5
112 70 p dots 1,2,3,4
113 71 q dots 1,2,3,4,5
114 72 r dots 1,2,3,5
115 73 s dots 2,3,4
116 74 t dots 2,3,4,5
117 75 u dots 1,3,6
118 76 v dots 1,2,3,6
119 77 w dots 2,4,5,6
120 78 x dots 1,3,4,6
121 79 y dots 1,3,4,5,6
122 7A z dots 1,3,5,6
123 7B { dots 2,4,6
124 7C | dots 1,2,5,6
125 7D } dots 1,2,4,5,6
126 7E ~ dots 4,5

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