Braille dots 23456

⠾ is a Braille pattern with five raised dots: every position except the top left of a six-dot cell. In contracted English Braille, it can represent the word “with”. Unicode records the dot pattern itself, so that English reading is not a translation you can apply to every language.

Text symbol

What ⠾ means

The numbers identify positions, not a sequence of letters. A six-dot Braille cell has two columns: positions 1, 2 and 3 run down the left; 4, 5 and 6 run down the right. In ⠾, positions 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are raised, leaving only position 1 empty.

Braille is a system for reading and writing by touch. Its patterns represent letters, punctuation and other signs under the rules of a particular language or notation. Contracted Braille also uses single cells or short groups for longer text: the English word “with” is one example. To read ⠾ within a passage, identify the Braille code being used and read the surrounding cells.

Part of the collection

⠃

Braille Symbols

Worth knowing

Louis Braille developed his six-dot system after encountering Charles Barbier’s raised-dot “night writing”, demonstrated at his Paris school in 1821.

Questions people ask

Does typing ⠾ make my text accessible in Braille?

No. Inserting one Braille character does not translate your text. Readable Braille requires the appropriate language rules; tactile reading also needs an embossed copy or a refreshable Braille display.