What Emboss Does
Emboss converts modern documents into properly formatted braille files (BRF and eBraille), ready for physical embossing or digital refreshable braille displays. It interprets document structure — headings, paragraphs, lists, tables, mathematics, poetry, drama and footnotes — and lays them out according to official international braille standards.
Two Ways to Work
Emboss has two modes that share the same settings:
- Quick Mode (this screen): drop in a document you already have and download the braille.
- The editor: write and format your own document, with the braille shown beside it as you type. It has maths, tables, read-aloud and a check of the braille. Open it with Advanced Editor at the top of the screen; your document goes with it, and its own Help explains it. Emboss opens at Quick Mode unless you turn off Settings › User Interface › Start in Quick Mode; switching between the two does not change that setting. The editor is made for a computer or tablet: on a phone, Emboss works in Quick Mode only.
How to Use Quick Mode
- Drag a document onto the drop area, or click Choose file (
.docx · .doc · .odt · .epub · .html · .md · .rtf · .txt · .xml · .nimas · .dtbook, or a NIMAS package .zip). It is brailled straight away and shown as a braille preview. Emboss cannot read PDFs, pictures, spreadsheets or slides: such a file is refused with a message that lists the formats it can read (for a PDF, save it as a Word document first).
- Open Settings to choose the braille code and grade, the braille standard, and the page size: pick a Page size preset (US braille paper 11 × 11½ in, UK 12-inch paper or A4) or type the cells and lines. The size in use is shown at the top of the screen.
- Click Export and choose Braille (BRF) or eBraille.
Interface Language
Choose the language of the buttons and menus in Settings › User Interface. This does not change the braille: choose the braille code separately, in the braille settings.
Working with Document Structure
Emboss reads document structure rather than visual styling. In Word, apply Title and Heading 1–3 styles for headings, and standard bulleted/numbered lists for lists. In Markdown or HTML, use semantic heading and list tags. House-style choices (indented 3-1 vs block paragraphs, quotation mark exchange, and list formats) can be customized in Settings .
Maths & Equations (MathCAT)
Emboss transcribes mathematics using MathCAT into UEB maths (UKAAF) or Nemeth Code (BANA). Word equations (Alt + =), LaTeX math ($...$ or $$...$$), and MathML (<math>...</math>) are transcribed with full code-switch indicators.
Tables
Tables are brailled in columns when they fit the braille page. A table too wide for columns is brailled as a listed table (BANA) or in paragraph form (UKAAF). The table layout can be changed in Settings .
Embossing
Export the BRF file and send it to your embosser with the embosser's own software. To send braille straight to an embosser from Emboss, press Ctrl+Shift+\ (⌘+Shift+\ on a Mac) to add Send to embosser to the Export menu and show the embosser settings. Tactile graphics are not yet sent to embossers.
Working Offline
Emboss works without the internet once it has been opened with a connection. On that first visit it quietly downloads everything it needs (the braille tables, the maths engine and the fonts), and the status line says Emboss is ready to work offline once. Help shows whether it is ready, next to the version. A new version arrives the next time Emboss is opened online.
Standards
UKAAF follows the UK layout guidance (38×27 default); BANA follows the US guidance (38×25 default), including the braille page number on the last line rather than the first. The first time Emboss runs it picks the standard that matches your browser's country (BANA in the United States and Canada, UKAAF elsewhere); you can change it in Settings, and changing it sets that standard's usual page size.
Credits & Licensing
- Emboss © 2026 Sensory App House Ltd. Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
- Version: development
- Offline: Still getting ready to work offline…
- Translation Engine: liblouis … (LGPL), compiled to WebAssembly. © liblouis contributors.
- Maths & Speech: MathCAT (MIT, © Neil Soiffer / DAISY); LaTeX via Temml (MIT).
- Braille Codes: Unified English Braille — ICEB, The Rules of UEB.
- Formatting Standards: UKAAF Guiding Principles for the Presentation of Braille (B004) and BANA Braille Formats: Principles of Print-to-Braille Transcription, 2016.
- Tactile Graphics: BANA Guidelines for Tactile Graphics and Benetech / DIAGRAM Center Accessible Image Standards (CC-BY).
