The official braille code in the United Kingdom is Unified English Braille, an international code ratified by all of the major English-speaking countries and maintained by the International Council on English Braille (ICEB). National braille decisions are made by the United Kingdom Association for Accessible Formats (UKAAF).
There are many free training and reference resources available in the UK and overseas. We recommend these pages for a list:
- The UEB page of the ICEB website
- The UEB Training page of the ICEB website
- The Braille Music page of the ICEB website
- The Braille page of the UKAAF website
- The UEB page of the UKAAF website
We also highly recommend exploring the following resources:
- Paths To Literacy
- UEB Online
- Ask Alexa to “Open the Braille Challenge”
- Braille games from Purpose Games
The remainder of this page deals with UK-specific resources available primarily from RNIB.
Free Hard Copy Resources for Beginner Braillists
Free Hard Copy Resources for Readers Wishing to Transition from SEB to UEB
- UEB Quick Reference Guide: a single page summary of changes available in grade 1 (TC21428) and grade 2 (TC21427).
- Summary of UEB Changes: a more detailed list of changes available in grade 1 (25258703) and grade 2 (25258802).
- UEB Sample Document + Crib Sheet, available in grade 2 (25187402).
Resources Available for Purchase in the UK
Courses for Children
For further reading practice, we recommend Clearvision and the Living Paintings Trust – more information on our Braille Suppliers page.
First Stage:
- Hands ON (formerly Braille For Infants): Full Course (TC21403, £115) + Teacher’s Handbook (HO_TEACHER) available for £15.00 in print (formerly TC21404) and braille (formerly TC21405).
Second Stage:
- Take Off: Main Course (TC21413, £150) + Teacher’s Handbook available for £15.00 in print (TC21415P) and braille (TC21415UEB).
- The Abi Books: Adventures of a Young Blind Girl (ABI-BOOKS): full set (formerly TC21432, £115.00), books 1-20 (formerly TC21429, £40.00), books 21-30 (formerly TC21430, £40.00) and books 31-40 (formerly TC21431, £50.00) + Teacher’s Handbook (ABI-TEACHER) available for £15.00 in print (formerly TC21433) and braille (formerly TC21434).
Courses for Adults
Grade 1:
- Dot-To-Dot: distance learning course: course books available for £39.99 for touch readers (TC21441) and sight readers (TC21442) + instructions (TC21443) available for £7.50 on audio CD (formerly TC21443CD), multi-media CD (formerly TC21443M) and in print (formerly TC21443P) and grade 1 braille (formerly TC21443B).
Grade 2:
- Fingerprint: distance learning course for touch readers: course books (TC21439, £39.00) + instructions (TC21439-INST) available for £15.00 on audio CD (formerly TC21439CD), multi-media CD (formerly TC21439M) and in print (formerly TC21439P) and grade 2 braille (formerly TC21439B).
- Fingerprint Reference Book: volume 10 of the main Fingerprint course, but available separately for those who just want to brush up their braille. Available for £5.00 in braille (TC21440).
Magazines for Adult Touch Readers Learning Braille
- Ready, Steady, Read! available from RNIB at £2.08 per issue. It can be ordered as a quarterly (£6.24), half yearly (£12.48) or yearly (£24.96) subscription and new readers can receive a trial issue. For more information, contact RNIB.
For Sighted Readers, Teachers and Transcribers
- The Braille Primer: a comprehensive guide to contracted braille for people wishing to learn to write braille or who want to become transcribers (TC21423). Available for £9.90 in print (formerly TC21423P), large print (18pt) (formerly TC21423LP) and grade 2 braille (formerly TC21423B).
- The Welsh Braille Primer: a comprehensive guide to Welsh braille for people wishing to learn to write braille or who want to become transcribers. Available for £9.90 in English (UWB-ENG) in print (formerly 26478103) and large print (18pt) (formerly 26523103) and in Welsh (UWB-CYM) in print (formerly 26478203) and large print (18pt) (formerly 26523203).
- Washy: graduated braille reading exercises based on the Braille Primer. Available for £2.65 in grade 2 braille (26043402).
- RNIB Certificate in Contracted Braille (UEB) (BCMAY20): a distance learning course based on the Braille Primer, £365.00.
- Using UEB for Mathematics: a guide to representing mathematics in Unified English Braille, by David Spybey (RNIB-VIEW-MATHS). Available for £9.99 in print (formerly TC21445) and grade 2 braille (formerly TC21446).
- Using UEB for Science: a guide to representing science in Unified English Braille, by Vernon Webb (RNIB-VIEW-SCIENCE). Available for £9.99 in print (formerly TC21448) and braille (formerly TC21449).
- The Braillists Manual: standard reference on braille transcription with detailed information on layout and editing for a range of material such as books, leaflets and articles (TC-BMUEB. Available for £18.00 in print (formerly TC21451) and grade 2 braille (formerly TC21450).
Core Reference Materials
- The Rules of Unified English Braille, 2013. Available for £19.95 in print (TC21419P) and grade 2 braille (formerly TC21419B).
- Unified English Braille: Guidelines for Technical Material. Available for £9.95 in print (TC21425P) and grade 2 braille (TC21425B).