jquery fallback function in case a browser doesn't support the maxlength attribute for textareas

MaxLengthTextAreajQueryFallback.js

/* jquery fallback function in case a browser doesn't support the maxlength attribute for textareas */

/*
   based on code by http://that-matt.com/2008/07/textarea-maxlength-with-jquery/ 
*/

function count_chars(textarea){
  var max = parseInt(textarea.attr('maxlength'));
	textarea.parent().find('.charsRemaining').html('<b>' + (max - textarea.val().length) + '</b> characters remaining.');
}
/* fallback jquery function in case a browser doesn't support the maxlength attribute for textareas 
   be sure to set the attribute in the html code e.g. <textarea maxlength=255></textarea>
*/
$(document).ready(function(){
  $('textarea[maxlength]').keyup(function(){
    var max = parseInt($(this).attr('maxlength'));
    if($(this).val().length > max){
      $(this).val($(this).val().substr(0, $(this).attr("maxlength")));
    }
    count_chars($(this));
  });
  /* call count_chars once after loading the document to ensure it updates the text if there is already some text present in the textarea */
  count_chars($('textarea[maxlength]'));
});