LAS VEGAS—I have to admit: I know a whole lot about conventional printers, but I didn’t know much about the niche category of Braille printers until today. At CES 2026, I met with a company called Mangoslab, which has a history with these specialty devices and is pushing out a new twist on Braille labeling.
Printing to paper or conventional labels, whether using ink or toner, relies on well-established processes, but raising Braille dots on label media presents its own unique challenges. The output media and its raised dots must have sufficient durability to withstand repeated finger swipes. More so, though, is that Braille is very much a language of its own, and it has its own equivalent forms in different spoken languages. (French Braille is not English Braille.) It’s also an art to learn how to translate or type Braille from everyday language. There are also six-dot and eight-dot Braille standards.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Mangoslab’s new Nemonic Dot device, shown off at CES 2026, bridges those gaps. It’s an evolution of a classic Braille label printer, with support for app-based voice recognition, giving you the ability to create Braille labels from spoken-word phrases, or from typed text, in a host of languages.
Making Those Dots Is Not That Simple
According to Mangoslab, the Braille printer category is a relatively mature one with several competitors, but typical models cost more than $1,000. They usually employ either a direct wired PC connection (over which you type the desired label text from special software for conversion into Braille label output). Or, they may have a specialized Braille keyboard on the body of the printer for direct input onto the device. In the latter case, though, the keyboard does not have conventional letters and numbers; you need to know how to “type Braille” in the appropriate standard.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
With the Nemonic Pro, Mangoslab is targeting a price under $1,000, which makes Braille label printing more economical than with most existing models. But more to the point, its software makes it easy for non-specialists and non-Braille “speakers” to create labels simply by dictating into an app, with no Braille knowledge required. A representative from the company demonstrated the process.
The small printer (4.5 inches square and 2 inches thick) sits on your desk. (It’s also easily pocketable, and has an internal battery so it can be used wirelessly.) Open the supporting app on your phone, dictate a term or type it into the on-screen keyboard (say, “pepper”), and hit print.
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(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
After a moment, you’ll start to hear the Nemonic Pro ticking away inside, punching the appropriate Braille dots into its roll of labeling tape. When your label is done, you can press a button on top of the printer to slice off the peel-and-stick strip.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
In the demo we took, the rep printed out Braille labels for salt and pepper shakers, so a visually impaired person could tell them apart by feel.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
The possible use cases for everyday household items don’t require much imagination. You can help out a relative by generating labels for all the spices in their spice cabinet. You could label various switches around the house. And one key use case is for medication, the Mangoslab representative noted. Typical over-the-counter medications, such as Tylenol, may have Braille identifying dots on the outside of the bottle. However, this is not the case for custom prescriptions from your doctor, which have smooth, printed labels. You need to tell the blood pressure medication from the prescription-strength antacids.
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Two Kinds of Tape
Because Braille printers’ form of “printing” involves pressing dots into durable media, the typical output tape used by the Nemonic Pro is similar to the reels of plastic label stock used for embossed, raised-letter plastic labels from Dymo and other manufacturers of label printers. The Nemonic tapes come in small, cartridge-encased rolls that load into the printer’s body.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
At times, however, a label may need to be more durable or weatherproof than what makes sense for the plastic “stock” labels to endure. To that end, Mangoslab will also offer cartridges of copper tape, ideal for sticking onto outdoor items or onto labels that will receive a lot of heavy finger traffic.
The Nemonic Pro isn’t on the market yet; Mangoslab expects it to appear in the first half of the year. We are looking forward to test-driving it and seeing this important technology made more accessible to the visually impaired and those tasked with making their lives easier.
About Our Expert
John Burek
Executive Editor and PC Labs Director
Experience
I have been a technology journalist for almost 30 years and have covered just about every kind of computer gear—from the 386SX to 64-core processors—in my long tenure as an editor, a writer, and an advice columnist. For almost a quarter-century, I worked on the seminal, gigantic Computer Shopper magazine (and later, its digital counterpart), aka the phone book for PC buyers, and the nemesis of every postal delivery person. I was Computer Shopper’s editor in chief for its final nine years, after which much of its digital content was folded into PCMag.com. I also served, briefly, as the editor in chief of the well-known hard-core tech site Tom’s Hardware.
During that time, I’ve built and torn down enough desktop PCs to equip a city block’s worth of internet cafes. Under race conditions, I’ve built PCs from bare-board to bootup in under 5 minutes. I never met a screwdriver I didn’t like.
I was also a copy chief and a fact checker early in my career. (Editing and polishing technical content to make it palatable for consumer audiences is my forte.) I also worked as an editor of scholarly science books, and as an editor of “Dummies”-style computer guidebooks for Brady Books (now, BradyGames). I’m a lifetime New Yorker, a graduate of New York University’s journalism program, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
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