Allison Souter Email & Phone Number

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Chicago, Il

Providing technical expertise in accessible EPUB3 eBook authoring, development, and production processes. Responsibilities include:- Working closely with accessibility experts to establish best practices for integrating inclusive design into higher-ed, EPUB3 eBooks that adhere to WCAG 2.0 standards by managing the kit used for building eBooks. Leading a team of designers and developers to build patterns and elements in the kit with accessible mark-up baked in, to ensure that meeting accessibility standards can be part of the eBook production pipeline.- Training authors, product developers, project managers, and off-shore service providers on eBook production processes and authoring best practices. This includes training in the mechanics of the eBook authoring environment, creating guidelines for how to best translate print content to digital, and understanding the importance of authoring accessible content.- Propose and pilot solutions to improve eBook content, including creating working models for integrating extended image descriptions into a variety eBook formats as eBook readers evolved, updating functional testing requirements to include accessibility testing, and working with project managers to streamline production processes.- Document eBook production processes (project management, copyediting, proofing, and functionality/accessibility quality assurance) for all team members. - Troubleshoot and provide solutions and support for technical issues. Test platform updates, track and report functional issues. - Experience with converting formats from EPUB to PDF and Word to EPUB.- Communicate updates to processes, eBook kits, and content guidelines to multiple departments, international teams, and off-shore partners.

Burr Ridge, Il

Managed the digital media development for Higher Ed textbook titles, including assessment content, eBooks, web sites, and interactive content. Streamlined communication between off-shore vendors, in-house editorial, print production and quality assurance teams to keep projects on schedule, while also maintaining the quality of the content.

Chicago, Il

Project managed the delivery of web-based business system solutions supported by custom content management applications. Collaborated with the client, development team, design team and online marketing team to ensure achievement of business goals and objectives.

Glenview, Il

Lead cross-functional teams and interpreted editorial product requirements to create competitive Math, Art, Science, and Social Studies digital content, ebooks, web sites, and software. Participated in product design and development with special attention to graphical user interface elements and instructional design. Defined product and functional requirements in Request-For-Proposals, monitored resources, budgets and schedules, sourced and hired vendors, manage script preparation and multimedia production. Participated in forecast review meetings; provided monthly budget, forecast, and project status reports. Planned and managed the $4 million enVision Math 2009 program budget over a two-year period; avoided overruns, delivered content on-time for the adoption season and maintained product quality. Created functional specifications that defined design, programming, and outcomes; produced storyboards to facilitate communication between production team members.Reduced online eBook production timeline from 6 months to 3 months with measurable quality improvements by updating and streamlining the production process. Produced 180, K thru 6 eBooks in 18 months.Defined, monitored schedules, and coordinated 25+ projects simultaneously, with multiple third party developers and partners in the US and India.Designed the user-interface shell for a series of bilingual, flash-based enrichment activities for advanced math students. Worked with the vendor to design a content management system that allowed editors and translators to proof and correct content copy directly to the flash activity. This reduced the schedule from 12 months to 8 months by streamlining the review and translation processes.Educated editors on the process of writing content for interactive computer-based lessons; shared expertise in how to leverage unique advantages of interactive applications to engage youth.

Greater Chicago Area

Clients included Bank of America, Caremark, Enslow Publishers, Hewitt, and Sara Lee.

Chicago, Il

Clients included Eaton/Cutler Hammer and Harvard Business School.

Clients included Ameritech, The Field Museum, JFK Healthworld Museum, Kraft Food Services, Motorola, Quaker, and Siemens.

Bfa, Illustration And Computer Animation

Educational Technology Leadership Graduate Program, Instructional Design

Graduate Certificate, Educational/Instructional Media Design, A