I may be cynical, but you can't always build something for everybody. Apple sell devices (laptops and desktops) with keyboards and other usability features. It's like complaining that a Ferrari isn't usable for people on a wheel chair. Just don't buy that car. Nobody complain with pasta brands cause they didn't pass the usability test with celiac disease people.

Disclaimer: I'm an avid supporter of usability over the web, I'm actually working on a project to help designers/developers building more usable websites.

Usability isn't only for disabled. I just switched from an old Centro phone to Palm Pre, and noticed how problematic those pretty buttonless interfaces are : you simply can't use the phone at all without watching at it. I could grab my centro, reply on the phone, hang up, call back, call my wife, or office, without a single glance at it. It's impossible with a pure touchscreen device, and that's the single worst problem I have with it. A usability problem.

My point is that if you can't/don't like buttonless, then the iPhone/iPad and every other buttonless devices aren't for you. Just buy another one.

Disclaimers are for avoiding liability. i.e. you adda disclaimer because you have some hidden agenda or other fact that hurts your cause. Caring about usability on the web isn't any of these things. It's really more of a "and it's not like I dislike usability, either," sort of addendum rather than a disclaimer.

Anyway, I'm not convinced. Usability matters to everyone, not just people that can't make heads or tails of the interface. The point is not only to make it usable at all, but also to make it easier to use, and at times, faster to use. So, sure, maybe a ferrari isn't usable by those that are somehow physically handicapped and unable to walk. But you know what? That doesn't have to be the case, and indisputably the ferrari would be better if it was usable by everyone without sacrificing anything (except the "freedom" of the engineer to make it hard to use for some people). And that's what usability, and accessibility, is about, isn't it?

The author meant usability as in user-friendliness.