Americas Braille Systems
North America
- Languages Supported: English (US, Canada)
- Key Characteristics: Single unified code for literary and technical material
- Status: Current standard
- Inventor/Developer: Joel W. Smith
- Languages Supported: US English (legacy)
- Date: 1878-1918
- Key Characteristics: Joel Smith, a teacher at the Perkins Institution, introduced Modified American Braille in 1878. Frequency-based dot assignments. Still used in some legacy publications
- Status: Legacy system
- Languages Supported: Iñupiaq (Alaska)
- Key Characteristics: Braille alphabet of the Inupiat language maintained by the Alaskan Department of Education. Based on French-ordered Braille. Print digraphs ch and sr are digraphs in braille as well. Uses special characters including ñ, ŋ, ġ, ḳ, ṭ, ḷ, ł, and ł̣. Punctuation is the same as in English Braille.
- Status: Active
Latin America
- Languages Supported: Spanish (Mexico, Central America, South America)
- Key Characteristics: Regional variations in some countries
- Status: Active
- Languages Supported: Portuguese (Brazil)
- Key Characteristics: PT-BR variant with slight differences from PT-PT
- Status: Active
Indigenous Languages
- Languages Supported: Inuktitut
- Key Characteristics: Adapted for Inuktitut syllabics; reassigned vowels
- Status: Active
- Languages Supported: Guarani
- Key Characteristics: Based on French-ordered Braille
- Status: Active
- Languages Supported: Hawaiian
- Key Characteristics: Based on French-ordered Braille
- Status: Active
- Languages Supported: Iñupiaq
- Key Characteristics: Based on French-ordered Braille
- Status: Active
- Languages Supported: Navajo
- Key Characteristics: Based on French-ordered Braille
- Status: Active
- Languages Supported: Samoan
- Key Characteristics: Based on French-ordered Braille
- Status: Active
- Languages Supported: Māori
- Key Characteristics: Based on French-ordered Braille
- Status: Active
Notes
- Most Latin American countries use Spanish Braille
- Brazil uses Portuguese Braille (PT-BR variant)
- Some Caribbean countries use English or French Braille depending on colonial history