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BrailleDocs converts documents into braille. Upload a file, choose your translation options, then open the editor to review and refine the output.

To upload a file:

1. Click the upload area on the home page, or drag and drop a file onto it.
2. Choose your braille code, grade, and math notation (if applicable).
3. Click Open Editor to translate and edit.

Supported formats:

• PDF, DOCX, TXT, HTML, Markdown, EPUB
• Images (PNG, JPG) — OCR extraction

Maximum file size: 50 MB.

After uploading a file you can configure how it will be translated:

• Braille Code —UEB (Unified English Braille, the current international standard) or EBAE (English Braille American Edition, the legacy US standard).
• Grade —Grade 1 (uncontracted, letter-for-letter) or Grade 2 (contracted, uses abbreviations for common words).
• Math Notation (shown when math is detected) —Nemeth Code or UEB Math.

Your selections are saved in your browser and will be remembered the next time you visit.

The editor shows your source document and braille output side by side:

• Left pane (Format) — Your source document with tags that control structure and formatting. Edit the text, add headings, lists, emphasis, and braille control codes. Tags are highlighted in blue, math in purple, and control codes in amber.
• Right pane (Braille) — The formatted braille output displayed in simulated braille font. Shows page breaks and page numbers matching your page size settings. You can also edit the braille directly.
• Settings sidebar — Configure page size, page numbering, braille code (UEB/EBAE), grade, and math notation. Click Apply Settings to re-translate with new settings.

Changes in the left pane automatically update the braille on the right. The toolbar provides download buttons for BRF, eBraille, Markdown, and EPUB exports.

The format pane shows your source document with tags that control braille formatting. Select text and apply formatting with keyboard shortcuts:

Use the tag buttons in the toolbar to insert or toggle tags. Right-click for options including Remove Tag and Insert Code (for braille control codes like page breaks and grade changes).

See the Tags & Codes Reference for a complete guide to all tags and control codes.

The braille pane shows the formatted braille output in a simulated braille font. It displays page breaks and page numbers according to your page size settings.

You can edit the braille directly by clicking into a segment and typing. Use the arrow keys to navigate — up/down moves by line, left/right by character.

Page settings (in the sidebar):

• Page size — LETTER (32 cells × 25 lines) or WIDE (40 cells × 25 lines), or custom
• Page numbering — position (bottom-right, bottom-left, top-right, top-left, or none)

From the editor toolbar, click Export to download your work:

• BRF — Braille Ready Format. The standard file format for braille embossers. Includes page layout and numbering.
• eBraille (.ebrl) — A ZIP archive containing the braille content in HTML format. Used for digital braille reading.
• Markdown — The tagged source document in Markdown format.
• EPUB — The source document as an accessible e-book.

Saving requires an account. Click Sign In in the header to register or log in.

To save your work:

1. Open the editor with a translated document.
2. Click Save in the toolbar.
3. Give your work a name (or keep the auto-generated one).

To load a saved work:

1. Sign in to your account.
2. Open the user menu (your name in the header).
3. Select My Works to see your saved documents.
4. Click a work to open it in the editor.

Six-key entry lets you type braille directly using the home-row keys, the way a Perkins Brailler works. Press the keys for a cell's dots together, then release them all — BrailleDocs commits one Unicode braille character at the cursor.

To turn it on: click the ⠿ 6-key toggle next to the Text/Braille view buttons in the editor toolbar, or press Ctrl+Alt+B. A 2-pixel accent outline around the braille panel and a “6-key mode” pill in its status bar confirm the mode is active.

Keyboard mapping:

Backspace cancels an in-progress chord (the dots you have pressed but not yet released) and falls through to the textarea's normal delete behaviour, so an extra Backspace removes the previous cell as expected.

IME note: If your keyboard input method (e.g. Pinyin, Hiragana) starts a composition while six-key mode is on, BrailleDocs automatically turns the mode off and shows “Six-key entry disabled — IME active” — chord entry and live composing don't mix. Disable your IME or switch keyboards before re-enabling.