Layout & QC, Automated

The work

Laying out and proofing learning modules in Word is exact, repetitive work: front-cover specs, copyright page, table of contents, footers, figure captions, headings, page count — around thirty checkpoints per module, every one a place a tired eye can miss something. The brief was to take the mechanical part off the desk without taking the judgment off the page.

Scope

• Word macros (VBA) that run the checks on the open document and fix the mechanical ones — covers, copyright year, table-of-contents fields, footers, figure references, headings, page count — reporting each as pass, fix, or flag.
• A Python package, with its own test suite, for what is cleaner to do on the file directly: rewriting the table-of-contents field, inspecting field codes, validating file names against the naming convention — in batch, across a whole folder of modules.
• Every checklist item ends up either auto-fixed or auto-flagged, so nothing passes in silence.

The line it keeps

The automation does the mechanical work; the human eye keeps what only a human eye should — the visual spot-check, the editorial consistency, the final sign-off. The macros confirm a style is correct; they never decide whether a sentence reads well.