Braille pattern 12578

The numbers identify positions, not a number to read aloud. An eight-dot cell has two columns of four positions. Viewed from the reading side, the left column is numbered 1, 2, 3, 7 from top to bottom; the right is 4, 5, 6, 8. In ⣓, the first row has only the left dot, the second has both, the third is empty, and the bottom has both.

Unicode preserves this arrangement without assigning a language-specific meaning. To translate it, you need the braille code used in the original text; surrounding cells can also affect the reading. If someone sends ⣓ alone, ask what text it came from rather than guessing a letter.

Braille is writing you can read by touch

Braille lets blind people read and write using small groups of raised dots called cells. The familiar six-dot cell has two columns of three positions; eight-dot braille has a fourth row. Braille is a writing system, not a separate language. Different codes represent different languages, and some use contractions for groups of letters or whole words. Music and mathematics also have braille conventions.

In 1786, Valentin Haüy published a book for blind readers using raised letters. Charles Barbier presented a raised-dot method at the Paris school for blind pupils in 1821. Louis Braille developed a compact six-dot system and published it in 1829, making both reading and writing by touch practical.