Braille Standards and Guidelines

On this page, you can find links to the currently approved standards, guidelines, and references manuals for the transcription and production of braille developed by the International Council on English Braille (ICEB), the Braille Authority of North America (BANA), and Braille Literacy Canada (BLC), as approved for use in Canada.

Alternative format versions of many of these standards are available upon request - please contact us for more information.

General guidance for transcription in English

• For transcription of braille in English, ICEB's Rules of Unified English Braille, Second Edition (2013), and accompanying updates, is the starting point. A French translation of the Rulebook is available on request. Contact us for more information.
• For scientific, mathematical, or more technical material, ICEB's Guidelines for Technical Material (2014) will be of assistance
• Formatting and layout is guided by BANA's Braille Formats: Principles of Print-to-Braille Transcription, 2016, and accompanying updates

General guidance for transcription in French

• Code braille français uniformisé pour la transcription des textes imprimés (CBFU), Edition Québécoise (2008)
• Code scientifique Québécoise pour la transcription des mathématiques et de la chimie (CBSQ) (2014)

Guidance for the production of braille in the Mi'kmaw language

• Mi'kmaw Braille Code Standards (PDF)
• Mi'kmaw Braille Code Standards (Duxbury Print File)
• Mi'kmaw Braille Code Standards (Duxbury Braille File)
• Mi'kmaw Braille Code Standards (Formatted Braille File)

Guidance for other specialized productions

• For production of tactile graphics, see:
  • BANA's Guidelines and Standards for Tactile Graphics (2010)
  • The report of the Canadian Braille Authority's Tactile Graphics Subcommittee (2003) (in PDF and BRF)
• For the automated transcription and production of transactional documents (such as statements of account), see BLC's Guidelines for the Production of Automated Braille Transaction Documents (2016)
• For producing signage, see BLC's Accessible Signage Guidelines (updated 2024), available in PDF and Microsoft Word formats
• For the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), see ICEB's IPA Braille: An Updated Tactile Representation of the International Phonetic Alphabet (2008)
• For reproduction of musical scores, see BANA's Music Braille Code, 2015