Braille to Text Converter

Translate Grade 1 Unicode Braille back into readable English text.

Braille to Text Converter

Braille to English in one click.
Paste Braille characters into the "Braille Input" field and the readable text appears in the "Text Output" field.
Live mode updates the output as you type.

Load an example

Live mode (update as you type)

Upload a file

Braille Input

0 characters

Text Output

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Settings

Input format

Unicode Braille

Dot numbers (1-6)

Unicode Braille reads real Braille characters. Dot numbers reads cells written as raised dots, such as 1 12 14, with / for a word space.

Capital letters

Keep capitals

Output lowercase

Keep capitals turns the capital sign â (and the double sign â â ) into uppercase letters. Output lowercase ignores the signs.

Ready to convert Braille into English text.

Overview

The Braille to Text Converter is a free online tool that turns Grade 1 (uncontracted) Unicode Braille back into readable English text. It reads the Braille characters you paste, works out the dots in each cell, and rebuilds the original letters, digits and punctuation. Capital signs are turned back into uppercase letters, a number sign switches the following cells back to digits, and spaces and line breaks are preserved, so the result looks like the sentence that was encoded in the first place.

It is the natural companion to our Text to Braille Converter, and it is useful whenever you are on the receiving end: checking a Braille label or sign against the printed wording, reading a message that arrived as Braille, studying a dot pattern and wanting to know which letter it is, or proofreading a Braille translation before it is embossed. A second input style also accepts the dot-number form (1 12 14) that the forward converter can produce, which makes the pair useful as a learning set.

The tool was built with vanilla JavaScript on the Unicode standard itself. Unicode keeps every Braille cell in the Braille Patterns block (U+2800-U+28FF), where the code point is U+2800 plus the bitmask of the raised dots, so each character can be read back into its dot pattern by simple arithmetic. The letter, number and punctuation tables come from the same shared mapping file used by the Text to Braille tool, so encoding and decoding always agree. Everything runs locally in your browser - no Braille is uploaded, stored or logged anywhere.

How to Use the Tool

Step 1 - Enter the Braille: paste or type Unicode Braille characters into the "Braille Input" field, or click "Upload a file" to load a .txt file from your device. You can also click "Load an example" to fill the input with a ready-made sample.

Step 2 - Pick the input format: leave "Unicode Braille" selected for real Braille characters, or choose "Dot numbers (1-6)" if your input looks like 125 24 / 2345 instead.

Step 3 - Choose how to handle capitals: "Keep capitals" turns each capital sign into an uppercase letter so the text reads normally. Choose "Output lowercase" to ignore the signs and get plain lowercase text, which is handy when you only care about the wording.

Step 4 - Convert: with Live mode switched on (the default), the output updates as you type. You can also press "Convert to Text" at any time to run the conversion manually.

Step 5 - Use the result: click "Copy" to put the text on your clipboard or "Download" to save it as a text file. The message under the buttons reports how many cells were decoded and whether any cell had no known Grade 1 pattern.

Examples

Each example below loads its own Braille and settings - click "Try it" and the tool does the rest.

1. A greeting with capitals and punctuation

The capital sign restores the uppercase letters, and the comma and exclamation mark come back as normal punctuation.

Input (Braille)

â  â ›â •â •â ™ â â •â —â â Šâ â ›â ‚ â  â â •â —â žâ ‡â â â ™â –

Output

Good morning, Portland!

2. Numbers and a date

Each number sign switches the decoder into numeric mode, so the following cells are read as digits. A decimal point or thousands comma stays inside the number, while the slash ends it.

Input (Braille)

â  â •â —â ™â ‘â — â ¼â ™â ƒ â Žâ “â Šâ â Ž â •â  â ¼â â šâ Œâ ¼â â ›â ²

Output

Order 42 ships on 10/17.

3. An all-caps word (double capital sign)

Two capital signs in a row mark a fully capitalised word, so â â at the start of the word â â â Žâ restores NASA.

Input (Braille)

â  â  â â â Žâ  â •â â ‘â â ‘â ™ â Šâ  â ¼â â Šâ ‘â “â ²

Output

NASA opened in 1958.

4. Decoding the dot-number style

With "Dot numbers (1-6)" selected, the decoder reads cells written as raised dots and turns / back into a word space.

Input (dot numbers)

125 24 / 2345 125 15 1235 15

Output

hi there

Features & Options

Grade 1 decoding: the decoder reads the dots in each Unicode Braille cell and maps it back to its Grade 1 English letter or punctuation mark, reversing the companion Text to Braille Converter exactly.

Capital sign handling: a single capital sign â capitalises the next letter, and two in a row â â capitalise a whole word, so both the single-sign and UEB styles are decoded correctly.

Number sign handling: a number sign â ¼ puts the decoder into numeric mode, where the letters a-j become the digits 1-0. A decimal point or thousands comma stays inside the number, and a space or other symbol ends it.

Two input styles: "Unicode Braille" reads real characters from the Braille Patterns block, and "Dot numbers (1-6)" reads cells written as raised dots, such as 125 24 / 2345 125 15 1235 15, with / for a word space.

Capital output choice: "Keep capitals" restores uppercase letters, while "Output lowercase" ignores the signs and gives plain lowercase text.

Spaces and line breaks: a blank Braille cell (U+2800), an ordinary space and a line break are all treated as spacing, so paragraphs keep their shape.

Unknown cells are kept: a cell with no known Grade 1 meaning is left as its Braille character instead of being dropped, and the message under the buttons counts how many were found.

Live mode, file upload, copy and download: the output updates as you type, a .txt file can be loaded straight in, and the result can be copied or saved in one click.

How the Decoder Works

Every Unicode Braille character stores its dot pattern as a number. The cell's code point is U+2800 + the bitmask of its raised dots, where dot 1 is worth 1, dot 2 is worth 2, dot 3 is worth 4, dot 4 is worth 8, dot 5 is worth 16 and dot 6 is worth 32. The decoder subtracts U+2800, reads the bits back into dots 1-6, and then looks the pattern up in the shared letter and punctuation tables. A blank cell, U+2800, has no raised dots and is treated as a space.

Two special cells change how the following cells are read. The capital sign â (dot 6) capitalises the next letter, and a second capital sign right after it capitalises the rest of the word. The number sign â ¼ (dots 3-4-5-6) switches to digits, so the letters a-j that follow are read as 1-0 until a space or another symbol ends the number. Because both signs are handled, the same decoder works whether the text was written in the single-sign style or the UEB double-sign style.

The dot-number input style is simply a second way to write the same cells. Each group of digits such as 125 names the raised dots of one cell, groups are separated by spaces, and a lone / stands for a word space. The decoder rebuilds the cell from those digits and then runs the same decoding steps, so both input styles produce identical results.

Supported Braille Input

Letters: the full lowercase alphabet a-z, each read from its Grade 1 cell.

Capitals: the capital sign â before a letter, or the double sign â â before an all-caps word.

Digits: a number sign â ¼ followed by the cells for a-j, which decode to 1-0.

Punctuation: . , ? ! ; : ' - / - period, comma, question mark, exclamation mark, semicolon, colon, apostrophe, hyphen and slash.

Spacing: a blank cell (U+2800), a normal space, a tab and a line break are all treated as spacing and preserved.

Mixed text: anything that is not Braille - ordinary letters, digits and symbols - is passed through unchanged, so you can decode Braille that is embedded in other text. Cells outside the supported set are kept as Braille characters and reported in the result message.

Use Cases

Reading Braille you have received: paste a Braille message or a scanned label and get the plain English wording back, even if you have never learned the code.

Checking signs and labels: confirm that a Braille door sign, lift panel or product label matches the printed text before it is fitted or printed.

Learning the alphabet: decode a pattern to see which letter it is, then jump to the Text to Braille Converter to encode it back. The two tools together form a quick self-test.

Proofreading translations: run a Braille draft through the decoder to catch a missing capital sign or a number sign that changes the meaning.

Working with dot-number notes: if you keep notes in the dot-number style, the decoder turns them back into readable words without any manual counting.

Good to Know

Grade 1 only: the decoder expects uncontracted Braille. It does not expand Grade 2 contractions, so text written in contracted Braille will not come back correctly.

English only: the mapping is for English Braille. Accented letters and symbols from other languages have no Grade 1 English cell, so any cell outside the table is left as Braille.

It reverses this converter: the surest results come from Braille produced by the companion Text to Braille tool, because the two share one mapping. Other Grade 1 Unicode Braille that follows the same conventions also decodes correctly.

Not a replacement for a reader: the tool translates characters and signs, not meaning. Contracted or context-dependent Braille still needs a qualified Braille reader.

FAQs

FAQ 1: Is the Braille to Text Converter free and private?
Answer: Yes. It is completely free, with no sign-up or login, and the conversion runs entirely in your browser. The Braille you paste is never uploaded, stored or logged on any server.

FAQ 2: Which input formats does it accept?
Answer: Two. "Unicode Braille" reads real Braille characters from the Unicode Braille Patterns block. "Dot numbers (1-6)" reads cells written as raised dots, such as 125 24 / 2345, where each group of digits names one cell and a lone / stands for a word space.

FAQ 3: How does it know which letters are capitalised?
Answer: Braille marks capitals with a sign rather than a separate alphabet. The decoder turns a single capital sign â into an uppercase letter, and two signs in a row â â into a fully capitalised word. Choose "Output lowercase" if you would rather ignore the signs.

FAQ 4: How are numbers decoded?
Answer: A number sign â ¼ switches the decoder into numeric mode, where the next cells for a-j are read as the digits 1-0. A decimal point or thousands comma stays inside the number, and a space or other symbol ends it. This matches exactly how the Text to Braille tool encodes numbers.

FAQ 5: Why do some characters stay as Braille in the output?
Answer: A cell with no known Grade 1 meaning - for example one used by a different Braille code or a contraction - is kept as its Braille character rather than guessed at. The message under the buttons reports how many such cells were found so nothing is hidden.

FAQ 6: Can it decode Grade 2 (contracted) Braille?
Answer: No. Like its companion tool, this decoder works with Grade 1 Braille, where every word is spelled out letter by letter. Grade 2 uses contractions and short forms that need a much larger table and context rules, so those cells are left unchanged.

FAQ 7: Does it matter if my Braille uses blank cells for spaces?
Answer: No. A blank Braille cell (U+2800), an ordinary space and a tab are all treated as spacing, and line breaks are preserved, so text pasted from different sources decodes the same way.

FAQ 8: What happens if I mix Braille with ordinary text?
Answer: Anything that is not Braille is passed through unchanged. You can paste a line that combines Braille and plain characters and the plain parts stay exactly as they were, while the Braille parts are decoded.