8-Dot Arabic Computer Braille Reference

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

  1. 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.
  2. All Arabic alphabets and diacritical signs are displayed and entered according to the 6-dot braille grade 1 table.
  3. 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).
  4. 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.
  5. The apostrophe in English is also represented as usual by the third dot but must be entered by adding dot 7 with dot 3.
  6. 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.
  7. 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