sorry to reply to my own post. but i've come to realise that event.srcElement doen't equate to 'this' when nesting and bubbling occurs in explorer, does it? the wrong element can be altered for example. in my novice opinion, apart from the fact that multiple handlers of type can't be added, doesn't this make the traditional style of say, onclick=doSomething; superior, or at least just as good as attachevent?