Braille Pattern Dots-178

The code supplies its reading. ⣁ marks dots 1, 7 and 8; a particular language or computer code may assign that arrangement a character. Unicode identifies the pattern without making it one universal letter or word.

In 1821, Louis Braille encountered Charles Barbier’s 12-dot “night-writing,” a tactile code for military messages. By 1824, Braille had refined a fingertip-sized six-dot system for reading and writing; he published it in 1829. Eight-dot Braille later extended the cell for computer text: embossers appeared in the early 1970s, and refreshable displays became widespread by the late 1980s.