function so_checkCanCreate() {
		// make sure the browser has images turned on. If they are, so_createCustomCheckBoxes will
		// fire when this small test image loads. otherwise, the user will get the hard-coded checkboxes
		testImage = d.body.appendChild(d.createElement("img"));
	
		// MSIE will cache the test image, causing it to not fire the onload event the next time the
		// page is hit. The parameter on the end will prevent this.
		testImage.src = "blank.gif?" + new Date().valueOf();
		testImage.id = "so_testImage";
		testImage.onload = so_createCustomCheckBoxes;
	}
	
	function so_createCustomCheckBoxes() {
		d = document;
		// bail out is this is an older browser
		if(!d.getElementById)return;

		
		// remove our test image from the DOM
		d.body.removeChild(d.getElementById("so_testImage"));
		// an array of applicable events that we'll need to carry over to our custom checkbox
		events = new Array("onfocus", "onblur", "onselect", "onchange", "onclick", "ondblclick", "onmousedown", "onmouseup", "onmouseover", "onmousemove", "onmouseout", "onkeypress", "onkeydown", "onkeyup");
		// a reference var to all the forms in the document
	
		frm = d.getElementsByTagName("form");
		// loop over the length of the forms in the document
		for(i=0;i<frm.length;i++) {
			// reference to the elements of the form
			c = frm[i].elements;
			// loop over the length of those elements
			for(j=0;j<c.length;j++) {
				// if this element is a checkbox, do our thing
	
				if(c[j].getAttribute("type") == "checkbox") {
					// hide the original checkbox
					c[j].style.position = "absolute";
					c[j].style.left = "-9000px";
					// create the replacement image
					n = d.createElement("img");
					n.setAttribute("class","chk");
					// check if the corresponding checkbox is checked or not. set the
					// status of the image accordingly
					if(c[j].checked == false) {
						n.setAttribute("src","chk_off.gif");
						n.setAttribute("title","click here to select this option.");
						n.setAttribute("alt","click here to select this option.");
					} else {
						n.setAttribute("src","chk_on.gif");
						n.setAttribute("title","click here to deselect this option.");
						n.setAttribute("alt","click here to deselect this option.");
					}
					// there are several pieces of data we'll need to know later.
					// assign them as attributes of the image we've created
					// first - the name of the corresponding checkbox
					n.xid = c[j].getAttribute("name");
					// next, the index of the FORM element so we'll know which form object to access later
	
					n.frmIndex = i;
					// assign the onclick event to the image
					n.onclick = function() { so_toggleCheckBox(this,0);return false; }
					// insert the image into the DOM
					c[j].parentNode.insertBefore(n,c[j].nextSibling)
					// this attribute is a bit of a hack - we need to know in the event of a label click (for browsers that support it)
					// which image we need turn on or off. So, we set the image as an attribute!
					c[j].objRef = n;
					// assign the checkbox objects event handlers to its replacement image
					for(e=0;e<events.length;e++) if(eval('c[j].' +events[e])) eval('n.' + events[e] + '= c[j].' + events[e]);
					// append our onchange event handler to any existing ones.
					fn = c[j].onchange;
					if(typeof(fn) == "function") {
						c[j].onchange = function() { fn(); so_toggleCheckBox(this.objRef,1); return false; }
					} else {
						c[j].onchange = function () { so_toggleCheckBox(this.objRef,1); return false; }
					}
				}
			}
		}
	}
	
	function so_toggleCheckBox(imgObj,caller) {
		// if caller is 1, this method has been called from the onchange event of the checkbox, which means
		// the user has clicked the label element. Dont change the checked status of the checkbox in this instance
		// or we'll set it to the opposite of what the user wants. caller is 0 if coming from the onclick event of the image
		
		// reference to the form object
		formObj = d.forms[imgObj.frmIndex];
		// the name of the checkbox we're changing
		objName = imgObj.xid;
		// change the checked status of the checkbox if coming from the onclick of the image
		if(!caller)formObj.elements[objName].checked = !formObj.elements[objName].checked?true:false;
		// finally, update the image to reflect the current state of the checkbox.
		if(imgObj.src.indexOf("chk_on.gif")>-1) {
			imgObj.setAttribute("src","chk_off.gif");
			imgObj.setAttribute("title","click here to select this option.");
			imgObj.setAttribute("alt","click here to select this option.");
		} else {
			imgObj.setAttribute("src","chk_on.gif");
			imgObj.setAttribute("title","click here to deselect this option.");
			imgObj.setAttribute("alt","click here to deselect this option.");
		}
	}