Editorial Policy

Who writes the content

Every page on this site is written by me, Joseph Orduna. I am a full-stack software engineer; my background is on the team page. I am not a certified financial planner, not a physician, and not a lawyer. Where a topic requires licensed expertise (finance, health, legal, gambling), I frame my work as engineering and math — not advice — and cite primary sources for the underlying formulas.

When a page contains information that is or could be mistaken for professional advice, it carries a visible disclaimer near the result and a link back to the relevant regulator (CFPB for finance, CDC for health, ABA for legal, NCPG for gambling).

How tools are built

• Calculators implement published formulas. Each tool links to the source of its formula (for example, the IRS publication, the CDC growth chart, or the original journal paper). If the formula is a simplification of a more complex model, the page says so and points to the fuller version.
• Converters use well-known open-source libraries: FFmpeg WebAssembly for audio and video, pdf-lib and pdfjs-dist for PDF, sharp/canvas for raster images, tesseract.js for OCR, and so on. Each converter page names the library it uses and the relevant format specification.
• AI tools wrap third-party APIs (Venice AI, Mistral, OpenAI, etc.) with clear disclosure of which model produced what. Prompts and outputs are not retained by Practical Web Tools.
• Privacy architecture. Files are processed in the browser using WebAssembly; they are not uploaded to our servers. This is verifiable: open your browser's Network tab while using a converter and you will see no file uploads.

Sources we cite

We prefer primary sources over secondary aggregators.

• Finance — IRS, CFPB, FDIC, SEC, Federal Reserve, SSA, Treasury.gov. Secondary sources are only used for historical data that is not published by the primary agency.
• Health & fitness — CDC, NIH, WHO, AHA, USDA, and peer-reviewed journals via PubMed. We avoid lifestyle blogs and "wellness" aggregators.
• Math & science — NIST constants, peer-reviewed journals, standard textbooks.
• File formats & codecs — W3C specs, ISO standards, library documentation (FFmpeg, pdf.js, Apple HEIF guide, Google WebP guide, Adobe PDF reference).
• Gambling — Wizard of Odds, Shackleford papers, Griffin/Thorp on blackjack, Sklansky/Janda on poker. Content is framed as mathematical education; we do not link to gambling operators.

Review cadence

Every tool page displays a "Reviewed [date]" line under the title. That date reflects the last time the page's content was meaningfully reviewed — formula, sources, disclaimers, and FAQs. Routine code changes that do not affect content do not reset the review date.

• Money pages (mortgage, tax, retirement, credit) are re-reviewed at least once per calendar year and whenever the relevant regulator publishes new limits or rates (IRS contribution limits, Fed funds target changes, conforming loan limits).
• Health pages are re-reviewed annually and whenever the CDC or WHO updates a cited guideline.
• Converter pages are re-reviewed when the underlying library has a major version change that affects conversion fidelity.

Use of AI in authoring

I use AI models (Claude, GPT, Mistral) as research and drafting tools. Every page I publish is edited, fact-checked, and signed off by me. If a page contains AI-generated visual assets (cover images, diagrams), it is disclosed on the page.

AI is not used to mass-produce pages. Every tool exists because I needed it, thought someone else might need it, or was asked for it.

Corrections and updates

If you find an error — a wrong formula, a stale rate, a missing edge case, a broken link — email me. I reply to every substantive correction. When a correction is made, the page's review date is updated and — for material changes — a short note is added to the editorial log.

We do not silently rewrite history. If a calculation methodology changes, the change is logged with the date and reason.

Advertising and affiliate disclosure

Practical Web Tools is supported by display advertising (Google AdSense) and, in limited cases, affiliate links to products I actually use. Affiliate links are labeled as such. Advertising revenue does not influence editorial coverage: ads are placed by topic, not by advertiser relationship.

I do not accept paid placements, sponsored reviews, or guest posts.