Reference strength checker
Paste the address of any article and this reads what it links out to, then grades each source by the standing of the body behind it. It answers one question: when that page states a figure, is there anyone accountable for it, or is it the author's word?
What it cites
How it grades
The tiers are the ones we hold our own notes to. Tier 1.1 is national legislation, government and regulators; 1.2 a single local authority; tier 2 accreditation, professional and standards bodies; tier 3 trade federations; tier 4 established consumer bodies and charities. A manufacturer counts only for a product specification. Anything else counts as no standing: not that it is wrong, but that nobody with a reputation to lose has put their name to it.
Links in the navigation, header and footer are ignored, as are share buttons and links back to the page's own site. What is left is what the page actually leans on. The score weights legislation and standards bodies double, because on building work they are the ones that settle an argument.
A low score is not proof a page is wrong, and a high one is not proof it is right. It measures whether the claims are traceable. Our own references library and standards checker exist for the same reason.