Abstract:

Educational software for people with disabilities has not been studied and developed abroad and even less for people with moderate intellectual disabilities.

The problem is the lack of information regarding the existence and use of educational software; however, therapists treating people with moderate intellectual disabilities could benefit from the use of educational software that will help them in their rehabilitation therapies.
Taking the example of Ecuador, this investigation encompasses the knowledge of people under the accessibility scope, ease of learning for people with moderate intellectual disability and, the number of computer software currently known and used by organizations that help the learning process to people with moderate intellectual disabilities.

The first step was to design a digital survey, which was validated through a pilot test. Meanwhile, using the results of the survey, a database was created with all emails of institutions working with people with moderate intellectual disabilities. The collected information was processed and analyzed.

As a result, it was established that the potential users of educational software recognize their needs and benefits to activities. Likewise, respondents suggest an improvement in the lack of development and diffusion of these software tools in order to enhance the learning process of people with intellectual disabilities, with user’s technical assistance and training.

The results show a lack of planning in organizations regarding the use of educational software for people with disabilities.
To increase the use of educational software is recommended to:
• Start its use through a computer and an Internet connection.
• Find and select the best choice of educational software according to the types of learning that need to be improved.
• Keep in mind that people with moderate intellectual disabilities should be the main reason to select and use educational software.

In this context, the present investigation may help other countries that wish to increase educational software usage for people with moderate intellectual disabilities.

Future work aims to create a nationwide digital catalog of educational software for people with moderate intellectual disabilities, in which users can quickly and easily access the software they need for their different learning activities.

The proposed digital catalog would be an accessible web site according to W3C, which contains a menu with several tabs as resource catalog, searching, useful links and contacts.

To encourage usage of the proposed digital catalog, each educational software must have its description, authors, user reviews and a download link.

Keywords:

Educational, software, disabilities, technical, assistance.