## 8 Conclusions and Future Directions  
Evidence presented here suggests that that people with ID are not accessing the Internet to the same degree as others within society. Advances in computer technology have largely bypassed individuals with ID, particularly adults with severe impairments. Their functional variations and impairments, the education, training and supports they receive, and wider political, economic and attitudinal climate can combine in complex and varied ways to marginalize people with ID from accessing the using ICT and, more specifically, the Internet. Statistics on Internet accessibility for people with ID remain limited, and it has been argued that there is a dearth of academic studies which address the disability divide specifically in individuals with ID [51]. More needs to be done to consider what proportion of individuals with an ID actually can access the Internet as well as the barriers which may preclude access. Attitudinal barriers need much further consideration, with a view to altering negative attitudes.  
Issues of safety, risk and protection online for people with ID have yet to be adequately investigated and these currently serve as reasons given for hindering people from gaining online access.  
Despite claims that the Internet will bestow benefits, empirical verification of the actual social benefits and development opportunities provided by the Internet for people with ID is lacking. The voices of people with ID need to be included here (_cf._[87]), along with well-designed evaluative and comparative research investigating the impact of Internet use on people's lives. Impact on the lifestyles of people with ID, could include investigations of social capital development, social and ICT skill development and opportunities afforded by Internet use. Moreover, our understanding of how to enable people with ID to participate more fully in the online aspects of our society remains limited. The evidence base that does exist points to simplified Universal design for the Internet, improved training and time for carers to facilitate access, building ICT into organisational cultures and addressing carer and societal attitudes to people with ID and to such people accessing the Internet. Existing theories, including the nested ecological model and Capability theory [95, 96], could help guide empirical endeavors aimed at identifying contributing factors and poverty and disadvantage. Such theories may help to shed light on the impact of broader societal macro drivers in injustices, and on more micro interactional aspects of inequality and opportunity, including the individual's impairments, and how these interact with supports to affect the capability and subsequent agency in engaging with the online world. Thus the research possibilities, and the impact application of such research could have on the lives of people with ID appears manifold. Though potential impacts are unlikely to occur unless the research endeavour incorporates dissemination and implementation strategies and actions aimed specifically at producing change.  
In sum, Internet use, which has become such an integral part of the daily lives of people around the world, is a further part of life that people with ID appear to be fundamentally excluded from. So for people with ID, the promise of the Internet is far from being fully realized and the advocacy and academic community, in collaboration with people with ID, are needed at the forefront of the struggle for full online inclusion.