Braille symbol

A six-dot cell in two columns of three, indicating braille provision.

Also known as: Braille cell, Six dots symbol, Raised dots symbol

AccessibilityEveryday & digitalStandard profile

Meanings

Six dots in a two-by-three cell stand for braille. The cell is the unit of the writing system itself: every braille character is one arrangement of those six positions, raised or flat.

Officially standardisedVerified fact
Indicates that a material, sign or service is available in braille, or that braille is present on the object itself.
Contexts: Public information
Historically documentedVerified fact
Depicts the braille cell: six dot positions in two columns of three, each of which is either raised or absent, giving sixty-four possible characters.
Contexts: Public information
Historically documentedDocumented interpretation
Descends from a night-writing system devised for military use, which Louis Braille reworked into a six-dot cell readable under a single fingertip.
1820s onward · Contexts: Public information

Visual description

Six small filled dots arranged in a rectangle, two across and three down, evenly spaced.

Symmetry: bilateral
Orientation: upright

Confidence

IdentityHigh confidence: High confidence because the identity is defined by a current official standard.
Historical originModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useHigh confidence: High confidence because the current use is defined by a current official standard.
Visual matchHigh confidence: High confidence because the visual match is defined by a current official standard.

Sources

Disability Access Symbols
Graphic Artists Guild · retrieved 2026-07-31
The Guild is the issuing body for this set and defines each symbol, so it is authoritative for what these marks mean and how they are drawn. It is not a standards organisation: the set is a voluntary design resource with no legal force, and displaying a symbol from it is not evidence that any legal accessibility obligation has been met.
Braille
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-07-30
Tertiary reference. Used for widely-agreed identity and origin summary, not for contested detail or exact dates.

Last reviewed 2026-07-31

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Accessibility and assistive-provision symbols

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Meanings

Six dots in a two-by-three cell stand for braille. The cell is the unit of the writing system itself: every braille character is one arrangement of those six positions, raised or flat.

Officially standardisedVerified fact

Indicates that a material, sign or service is available in braille, or that braille is present on the object itself.

Contexts: Public information

Historically documentedVerified fact

Depicts the braille cell: six dot positions in two columns of three, each of which is either raised or absent, giving sixty-four possible characters.

Contexts: Public information

Historically documentedDocumented interpretation

Descends from a night-writing system devised for military use, which Louis Braille reworked into a six-dot cell readable under a single fingertip.

1820s onward · Contexts: Public information

Confidence

IdentityHigh confidence: High confidence because the identity is defined by a current official standard.
Historical originModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useHigh confidence: High confidence because the current use is defined by a current official standard.
Visual matchHigh confidence: High confidence because the visual match is defined by a current official standard.

Sources

Disability Access Symbols
Graphic Artists Guild · retrieved 2026-07-31
The Guild is the issuing body for this set and defines each symbol, so it is authoritative for what these marks mean and how they are drawn. It is not a standards organisation: the set is a voluntary design resource with no legal force, and displaying a symbol from it is not evidence that any legal accessibility obligation has been met.
Braille
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-07-30
Tertiary reference. Used for widely-agreed identity and origin summary, not for contested detail or exact dates.

Last reviewed 2026-07-31