Elements to ignore when validating, simply filtering them out. jQuery's not-method is used, therefore everything that is accepted by not() can be passed as this option. Inputs of type submit and reset are always ignored, so are disabled elements.

var options; // Type:  jQuery.validator.options
var instance; // Type:  jQuery.validator
instance = $(".selector").validate(options);

var value; // Type:  string

// Get value
value = instance.ignore;
// Set value
instance.ignore = value;

var ignore : string;