Video narrative description of visual information
ALT TEXT
- 00:00 A white screen resembling a retro digital computer screen appears with all capitalised purple letters that read, “In a world that’s increasingly mindful of inclusivity, there is only one trick left if you still don’t want to be inclusive. And that is to find…”.
- 00:08 Directly after the computerised voice and static noise that can be heard, a stylised yellow and purple cartoon message appears on the screen that reads, “Ridiculous excuses not to be inclusive”. The background is dark with stars and looks like outer space. This text is displayed at the same time as a choir of voices singing the text in a 70s sitcom style.
- 00:14 The screen then goes back to the white retro computer screen and has purple text again on it. The text reads, “All the ridiculous excuses you’re about to hear have been given for real”. “Excuses” is written in the same stylised cartoon font as it was when it was yellow and purple. “For Real” is highlighted in purple and written in white.
- 00:19 The video moves onto the next scene. A woman with long brown hair and light skin, wearing mostly brown, school appropriate winter clothes motions children towards a yellow school bus that appears to be parked on a city street on an overcast day. After saying “Come on kiddos, get on that bus” she quietly claps her hands together when she believes she has everyone on the bus. The camera pans around to two people standing opposite the teacher, who appear to be a mother and a son assumed to be one of the teacher’s students. The mother has long black hair, darker skin, and is also in winter wear. The son, who looks like a young teenager, has short brown hair, darker skin and is also wearing his school winter clothes. They both appear to be African American. The son has facial characteristics that indicate that he has Down Syndrome. The mother says “So, why can’t my son come on the field trip again?” The teacher shakes her head from side to side, looking like she can’t find the right words. “Because we’re not prepared for this.” She says to the mother, smiling. The mother looks confused. The teacher makes eye contact with the son, her student, bends down and puts her hands on her knees so she is at eye level with him and says, “It’s not you, my dear, it’s us.” As she says, her facial expression appears condescending. The son and the mother look off to the side, directly at the camera, displeased, as the “ridiculous excuses not to be inclusive” text appears on the screen in the top left hand corner as the choir voices sing the tune.
- 00:38 The video then moves onto a different scene. A father and a son stand in the middle of a judo dojo. The son and the father are the same height. The father has short brown hair and a brown beard with darker skin, and semi-formal wear. The son, who looks to be an older teenager, has short brown hair, darker skin, and is wearing a hoodie and other sports wear. They both appear to be African American. The son’s appearance indicates that he has Down Syndrome. The room is full of students preparing to exit the judo dojo, all in their class uniform, which is white with a belt of a colour specific to the student. The father stands opposite to the teacher of the class, and asks “Hey, uh, do you have any slots available for the judo class?”. The man looks confused, looks unconvincingly through the pages of a diary and then says, “Of course, your son can come in on Tuesdays at 10 in the morning.” The father looks stern and responds, “But he’s at school at 10 in the morning.” The teacher immediately says “Oh well, that’s the only time slot we have available.” The father and son look displeased. The teacher says to an older man in a janitor uniform sweeping behind him, who does not appear to be a teacher “Right, Jack?” The man sweeping looks confused and responds with “Huh?”. The son and the father look off to the side, directly at the camera, displeased, as the “ridiculous excuses not to be inclusive” text appears on the screen in the top left-hand corner, along with the choir voices singing the tune.
- 01:02 The video moves onto another scene. A mother and a daughter walk into a large room that is decorated for young children. A man is standing inside wearing mostly blue clothing, including a dark blue polo shirt and hat, but with a yellow lanyard. He smiles warmly at the other children and parents in the room walking past him. The mother, who has blonde hair, light skin and is wearing casual clothes, holding the hand of her young primary school aged daughter, who is also blonde and has light skin, and is wearing blue overalls and a purple shirt. The daughter’s facial features indicate she had Down Syndrome. The mother says to the man, “Hello, my daughter would like to join the summer camp.” The man smiles, until he sees the girl has Down Syndrome, and then he proceeds to feign sadness or disappointment and say “I’m sorry, but we already have one of those kids.” He looks condescendingly down at the girl. The daughter and the mother look off to the side, directly at the camera, displeased and a little bit shocked, as the “ridiculous excuses not to be inclusive” text appears on the screen in the top left-hand corner, along with the choir voices singing the tune.
- 01:21 The video moves onto the next scene. A well-dressed woman with curled brown hair and light skin, wearing a formal red dress and black suit jacket walks towards the door of a conference room in a work building and says to a man holding the door open “Hi, I’m here for the meeting.” The woman has features which indicate that she has Down Syndrome. The man responds by looking awkward while saying unconvincingly “The thing is, we don’t have enough chairs…”, and hesitates when he says this. The man holding the door open is wearing a white shirt and suit trousers without the jacket. He has short black hair and is of Asian appearance with light skin. The woman looks off to the side, directly at the camera, displeased, as the “ridiculous excuses not to be inclusive” text appears on the screen in the top left-hand corner, along with the choir voices singing the tune.
- 01:37 The video moves onto the next scene. A man with blonde hair, and light skin, wearing a beige sweater and black pants and with a backpack on his shoulders, walks into a theatre and up onto a stage. His facial features indicate that she has Down Syndrome. When he reaches the stage, he approaches a woman who is also on the stage. She is wearing a black dress with a scarf, with brown hair and light skin. “Yes?” The woman says. “I would love to join the theatre class.” He responds. She then replies hastily, “I’m sorry we closed registrations literally 10 minutes ago” while looking at her watch. The man looks unhappy and walks out off the stage to leave the theatre. The woman looks serious as he leaves, makes brief eye contact with the camera looking like she is feeling uncomfortable and perhaps judged by the viewer and then looks down at the ground.
- 01:58 A dark navy screen appears with the same computer, purple, all capitalised text as before, and it reads “There’s no acceptable excuse not to be inclusive.”
- 02:05 Purple text appears on a dark computerised navy background with the CoorDown logo and the caption “Find more #ridiculousexcuses on TikTok”.
- 02:10 Logos of the sponsors appear on the screen, they include DSi – Down Syndrome International, Down’s Syndrome Association (UK), Down Syndrome Australia, Global Down Syndrome Foundation, New Zealand Down Syndrome Association, Best Buddies International, National Down Syndrome Society, Karachi Down Syndrome Program
This post is also available in: Italian
