If braille is to remain a useful tool for the blind for all their needs, it must be in line with the requirements of modern technologies and the practices of users who wish to access information electronically via updateable braille devices. These requirements include direct access to the ASCII printable character set directly via these electronic devices, and the ability to enter characters without the possibility of any inconsistency or confusion in the translation from braille to the printed font and back. It is true that users of electronic braille devices can choose the braille table they want to use with these devices, but the use of regular spelling systems, which depend on the representation of numbers and some letters with the same dots, or the representation of standard signs such as addition (+) and subtraction (-) in more than one cell, will constitute an obstacle if the goal is to have meticulous connections between the braille dots and the corresponding printed letters and symbols. Read more about computer braille.
8-Dot Arabic Computer Braille Table
Below we will learn about the 8-dot Arabic Computer Braille table used in the Liblouis library for braille, which was developed by Mada Center – Qatar to facilitate the support of braille displays and screen readers for Arabic Braille.
First: Notes on the table
- The 8-dot computer braille table is based on the idea of inserting each code/sign/symbol into only one cell as much as possible, i.e., most signs are entered through a single cell.
- All Arabic alphabets and diacritical signs are displayed and entered according to the 6-dot braille grade 1 table.
- The “shadda” (emphasizing sign) will be displayed before the emphasized letter according to the standard Arabic Braille table, but all the diacritical signs must be written after the letter, including the “shadda”. Please note the need to print the “shadda” before the other diacritical sign on the letter. The example of the word “أمَّة” in which the “meem” (م) letter should be written first then the “shadda” is on this letter, then, the “fatha” diacritical sign (َ), but when it is displayed, the “shadda” will appear before the letter “meem” (م).
- Small Latin characters are displayed according to the standard, but because the dots of those characters are mixed with Arabic characters, 78 dots should be added when typing any small Latin character. The Latin capital letters are written and displayed in the same form so that the seventh dot appears below each large letter.
- The apostrophe in English is also represented as usual by the third dot but must be entered by adding dot 7 with dot 3.
- There is no number sign in computer braille, so the dot 8 is added with numbers in writing and displaying, noting that Latin numbers will be prioritized at entry due to their common use in the computer.
- The right column of the cell was emptied to accommodate more bicellular symbols/ signs in the future so that this part of the cell could be used as a prefix for these symbols. This means that the table is open and ready for further development and improvement, however, we are always pleased to receive your suggestions in this regard.
Table of Numbers
| Number | The Sign in braille | Dots |
| 1 | ⢁ | 18 |
| 2 | ⢃ | 128 |
| 3 | ⢉ | 148 |
| 4 | ⢙ | 1458 |
| 5 | ⢑ | 158 |
| 6 | ⢋ | 1248 |
| 7 | ⢛ | 12458 |
| 8 | ⢓ | 1258 |
| 9 | ⢊ | 248 |
| 0 | ⢚ | 2458 |
Table of Punctuation and Signs
| Sign name | Sign | Braille Dots | Sign in Braille |
| الفاصلة Comma | ، | 57 | ⡐ |
| الفاصلة المنقوطة Semicolon | ; | 567 | ⡰ |
| النقطتين Colon | : | 257 | ⡒ |
| علامة الاستفهام Question mark | ؟ | 236 | ⠦ |
| النقطة Full stop | . | 256 | ⠲ |
| الفاصلة الإنكليزية أو الفاصلة الرياضية English or Mathematical Comma | , | 27 | ⡂ |
| علامة التعجب Exclamation mark | ! | 235 | ⠖ |
| التنصيص Quotation | “ | 2356 | ⠶ |
| علامة الرقم أو المربع Number sing | # | 3456 | ⠼ |
| علامة بالمائة Percent | % | 1468 | ⢩ |
| علامة العطف Ampersand | & | 123467 | ⡯ |
| فتح قوس هلالي Parenthesis – to open | ( | 2367 | ⡦ |
| غلق قوس هلالي Parenthesis – to close | ) | 3568 | ⢴ |
| فتح قوس مربع Square Bracket – to open | [ | 123567 | ⡷ |
| غلق قوس مربع Square Bracket – to close | ] | 234568 | ⢾ |
| فتح قوس مزخرف Curly bracket – to open | { | 23567 | ⡶ |
| غلق قوس مزخرف Curly bracket – to close | } | 23568 | ⢶ |
| قوس تنصيص أيسر Single quotation – left | ‘ | 378 | ⣄ |
| قوس تنصيص أيمن Single quotation – right | ‘ | 678 | ⣠ |
| قوس تنصيص مزدوج أيمن Double quotation – right | « | 1234567 | ⡿ |
| قوس تنصيص مزدوج أيسر Double quotation – left | » | 1234568 | ⢿ |
| علامة النجمة Star/ Asterisk | * | 358 | ⢔ |
| علامة الجمع Plus sign | + | 2358 | ⢖ |
| الشرطة Dash | – | 36 | ⠤ |
| علامة الطرح Minus sign | − | 368 | ⢤ |
| علامة الضرب Multiplication sign | × | 2368 | ⢦ |
| علامة القسمة Division sign | ÷ | 2568 | ⢲ |
| الشرطة المائلة Forward Slash | / | 348 | ⢌ |
| الشرطة المائلة للخلف Backslash | \ | 347 | ⡌ |
| علامة أكبر من Greater than sign | > | 1358 | ⢕ |
| علامة أصغر من Less than sign | < | 2468 | ⢪ |
| علامة يساوي Equals sign | = | 235678 | ⣶ |
| علامة الشرطة السفلية Underscore | _ | 4567 | ⡸ |
| علامة الآت At sign | @ | 47 | ⡈ |
| علامة الأس Caret/ Exponent sign | ^ | 23468 | ⢮ |
| علامة الشريط Vertical slash | | | 12568 | ⢳ |
| علامة تلدة (علامة التكافؤ) Tilde | ~ | 3458 | ⢜ |
| علامة نقطية Grave accent | ` | 34578 | ⣜ |
| علامة الحذف Ellipsis | … | 25678 | ⣲ |
| علامة الدولار Dollar sign | $ | 12468 | ⢫ |
| علامة اليورو Euro sign | € | 4-15 | ⠈⠑ |
| علامة السنت Cent sign | ¢ ⡫ | ||
| علامة الجنيه Pound sign | £ | 4-123 | ⠈⠇ |
| علامة الين Yen sign | ¥ | 4-13456 | ⠈⠽ |
| علامة القسم Section sign | § | 2348 | ⢎ |
| علامة حقوق النسخ Copyright sign | © | 123468 | ⢯ |
| علامة الماركة المسجلة Registered sign | ® | 12358 | ⢗ |
| علامة الدرجة Degree sign | ° | 123458 | ⢟ |
| علامة المايكرو Micro sign | µ | 1348 | ⢍ |
| علامة الفقرة Paragraph sign | ¶ | 12348 | ⢏ |
Latin letters
The Arabic computerized braille table can enter and display the 52 Latin letters without the need to change the braille table used. All capital letters are displayed and entered according to the usual method on other computer tables, by adding the seventh dot to the letter. As for the lower-case letters, they are displayed in the traditional form, but upon input, and to avoid confusion with the Arabic letters, the seventh and eighth dots must be added when writing each letter.
The following are two integrated tables with those letters, in which we first mention the Latin letter next to it, how it is displayed, and then, how to write it in computer braille.
Latin Capital Letters
| Letter | On display | When entered |
| A | ⡁ | ⡁ |
| B | ⡃ | ⡃ |
| C | ⡉ | ⡉ |
| D | ⡙ | ⡙ |
| E | ⡑ | ⡑ |
| F | ⡋ | ⡋ |
| G | ⡛ | ⡛ |
| H | ⡓ | ⡓ |
| I | ⡊ | ⡊ |
| J | ⡚ | ⡚ |
| K | ⡅ | ⡅ |
| L | ⡇ | ⡇ |
| M | ⡍ | ⡍ |
| N | ⡝ | ⡝ |
| O | ⡕ | ⡕ |
| P | ⡏ | ⡏ |
| Q | ⡟ | ⡟ |
| R | ⡗ | ⡗ |
| S | ⡎ | ⡎ |
| T | ⡞ | ⡞ |
| U | ⡥ | ⡥ |
| V | ⡧ | ⡧ |
| W | ⡺ | ⡺ |
| X | ⡭ | ⡭ |
| Y | ⡽ | ⡽ |
| Z | ⡵ | ⡵ |
Small/ Lowercase Letters
| Letter | On display | When entered |
| a | ⠁ | ⣁ |
| b | ⠃ | ⣃ |
| c | ⠉ | ⣉ |
| d | ⠙ | ⣙ |
| e | ⠑ | ⣑ |
| f | ⠋⠋ | ⣋ |
| g | ⠛ | ⣛ |
| h | ⠓ | ⣓ |
| i | ⠊ | ⣊ |
| j | ⠚ | ⣚ |
| k | ⠅ | ⣅ |
| l | ⠇ | ⣇ |
| m | ⠍ | ⣍ |
| n | ⠝ | ⣝ |
| o | ⠕ | ⣕ |
| p | ⠏ | ⣏ |
| q | ⠟ | ⣟ |
| r | ⠗ | ⣗ |
| s | ⠎ | ⣎ |
| t | ⠞ | ⣞ |
| u | ⠥ | ⣥ |
| v | ⠧ | ⣧ |
| w | ⠺ | ⣺ |
| x | ⠭ | ⣭ |
| y | ⠽ | ⣽ |
| z | ⠵ | ⣵ |