In IE 11 every major browser now supports pointer-events, but until IE 11 gains wide adoption there will still be a large base of users who can't benefit from UI's which utilize this feature for "click through" UI's. In the meantime I figured I'd generate a list of click through mechanisms that vary based on properties used, nesting capabilities…

ClickThrough.js

// Utilize visibility. This will cause layout to be invalid and have to be recomputed once the element is made visible again.
function _clickThroughVisNested(evt) {
    var localStyle = evt.target.style;
    var oldVisibility = localStyle.display;
    localStyle.visibility = "hidden";

    var target = document.elementFromPoint(evt.pageX, evt.pageY);
    // Specific to my implementation. I want to only click through on certain types of elements.
    if (target.classList.contains("achievement")) {

        // Click is done here, before setting visibility back in order to support nesting scenarios.
        target.click();
    }
    localStyle.visibility = oldVisibility;
}

// Utilize display. This will cause layout to be invalid and have to be recomputed once the element is made visible again.
function _clickThroughDisplayNested(evt) {
    var localStyle = evt.target.style;
    var oldDisplay = localStyle.display;
    localStyle.display = "none";

    var target = document.elementFromPoint(evt.pageX, evt.pageY);
    // Specific to my implementation. I want to only click through on certain types of elements.
    if (target.classList.contains("achievement")) {

        // Click is done here, before setting display back in order to support nesting scenarios.
        target.click();
    }
    localStyle.display = oldDisplay;
}

// Utilize visibility. And reset visibility before calling "click". This doesn't support nesting, but prevents flashing
// if your overlay is not completely transparent. One example would be a gradient overlay that makes your elements appear
// to fade out at the edges of a container giving that carousel look.
function _clickThroughVis(evt) {
    var localStyle = evt.target.style;
    var oldVisibility = localStyle.display;
    localStyle.visibility = "hidden";

    var target = document.elementFromPoint(evt.pageX, evt.pageY);
    // Specific to my implementation. I want to only click through on certain types of elements.
    if (!target.classList.contains("achievement")) {
        target = null;
    }
    localStyle.visibility = oldVisibility;

    // Click is done here, after setting visibility back in order to prevent flashing.
    target.click();
}
var _clickThrough = _clickThroughVis;