function getElement(id){
    if(document.getElementById){    // test the most common method first
        return document.getElementById(id);
    }else if(document.all){         // test older versions of IE
        return document.all[id];
    }else if(document.layers){      // test older versions of Netscape
        return document.layers[id];
    }else{                          // not sure what to do...return null
        return null;
    }
}