<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <body> <textarea id="testBox" style="padding:2px;" readonly></textarea> <script type="text/javascript"> //Adding focus to the textbox should trigger a spellcheck var textbox = document.getElementById("testBox"); addEventListener("load", function() { textbox.readOnly = false; textbox.focus(); textbox.value = "blahblahblah"; textbox.selectionStart = textbox.selectionEnd = 0; textbox.blur(); }, false); </script> </body> </html>