Braille transcription involves taking a piece of print material (writing, maths, music, a map, etc.) and rendering the content in the tactile writing and reading system named after its inventor, Louis Braille.

Braille consists of arrangements of raised dots that stand for individual letters, combinations of letters (contractions), and punctuation signs.

The rules of braille ensure that dots can represent all the content of printed documents and are not used in ways that might confuse readers.

The RNZFB's braille team works with braille codes. Codes are not a language but a way of consistently representing the writing of a particular language in raised form. There are special codes for maths and science, computing, and music. When made manually, braille is written using a frame and a stylus that pricks dots in the paper, or a typewriter-like machine called a Perkins brailler. Master copies can be stored electronically. Once edited and checked, a braille file is sent to a braille printer (embosser). Pictures may be verbalised in braille or made into tactile form.

When a braille reader uses a computer or electronic notetaker, the words a sighted person would see on screen are produced in a line of "refreshable" braille. Plastic pins pop up to make the dots.