Books and Magazines on WebBraille
About WebBraille
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers for WebBraille Users
Please read the New Limitations on the Use of WebBraille
Login into BARD (requires a username and password)
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About WebBraille
This site contains files for braille books produced by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped since the early 1990s, files for all NLS-produced braille magazines, files for NLS-produced music scores and books about music, as well as files for braille books produced through libraries in the NLS network of cooperating libraries. Print/braille, foreign language, and grade 1 braille books are not included. NLS will continue to add new books to Web-Braille as they are approved for shipment.

WebBraille books can be searched in the online catalog. A link to each volume of a WebBraille title will appear in the search results. When a WebBraille link is selected, you will be prompted for your WebBraille username and password. To search only WebBraille titles, you may enter "web braille" (as two words) in the "keyword" field. You can also access new books through the online version of Braille Book Review which includes links to the Web-Braille versions of titles listed.

WebBraille book files are in grade 2 braille ASCII format. Each file represents one volume of a braille book and is named with the book's BR number and volume number and has a .brf file extension. For example, volume 2 of BR12345 would have the filename 12345v02.brf. Files for music materials are named similarly except that they have a letter "m" before the volume number instead of a "v".

Each WebBraille magazine file represents one part of a braille magazine and are named with a two-letter magazine code, an alphabetical letter, a-l, for the month, an optional two digits indicating the day, a two-digit year, an alphabetical letter for the part number, and a .brf file extension. Therefore, the June 2002 issue of National Geographic would have a file name of ngf02a.brf.

Files for materials from network libraries contain the two-letter state abbreviation of their state of origin, a three-digit book number, an indication of the volume number, and a .brf file extension. So volume 1 of book 036 from South Dakota would be named sd036v01.brf. All files in Web-Braille have a .brf file extension.

WebBraille files may be read online or may be downloaded for offline viewing or embossing with a braille display, braille-aware note taker, or braille embosser.