diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2321c3f..cc246c4 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -2,6 +2,6 @@
 JavaScript library to convert HTMLTable to Excel with cross browser functionlity
 How To USe:
 1. Import saveAsExcel.js into HTML web page using <script>
-2. call saveAsExcel() method on required event by passing two attributes, id of table to be saved as Excel and file name for the downloaded file
-3. E.g., saveAsExcel('tableToExcel', 'Jaffa.xls')
+2. call saveAsExcel() method on required event by passing three attributes, id of table to be saved as Excel (if jQuery is present you can use a Sizzle selector instead), file name for the downloaded file and optional charset string (defaults to 'UTF-8').
+3. E.g., saveAsExcel('tableToExcel', 'Jaffa.xls', 'UTF-8')
 4. For complete Usage view demo.html
diff --git a/saveAsExcel.js b/saveAsExcel.js
index 7bb1b7e..a8414ac 100644
--- a/saveAsExcel.js
+++ b/saveAsExcel.js
@@ -1,64 +1,91 @@
-function saveAsExcel(id, fileName)
-        {
-			
-            var table_text="<table border='2px'><tr>"; //Table Intialization, CSS included
-            var textRange; 
-			var index=0; 
-			var table = document.getElementById(id); // Read table using id
-			/*
-				Read Table Data and append to table_text
-			*/
-			
-            for(index = 0 ; index < table.rows.length ; index++) 
-              {     
-                    table_text=table_text+table.rows[index].innerHTML+"</tr>";
-                    
-              }
+function saveAsExcel(id, fileName, charset) {
+    // Promise based error handling, though it all works synchronously, parameter-based callbacks are avoided.
+    return new Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
+        try {
+            var charset = charset || 'UTF-8'; // Document charset, defaults to UTF-8
+            var prepend = "<html xmlns:o='urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office' xmlns:x='urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:excel' xmlns='http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40'><meta http-equiv='content-type' content='application/vnd.ms-excel; charset=" + charset + "'><head><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml><x:ExcelWorkbook><x:ExcelWorksheets><x:ExcelWorksheet><x:Name>{worksheet}</x:Name><x:WorksheetOptions><x:DisplayGridlines/></x:WorksheetOptions></x:ExcelWorksheet></x:ExcelWorksheets></x:ExcelWorkbook></xml><![endif]--></head><body>"
+            var append = "</body></html>"
+            var table_text = prepend + "<table border='2px'><tr>"; //Document and table Intialization, UTF-8 and CSS included
+            var textRange;
+            var index = 0;
 
-              table_text=table_text+"</table>"; // table close
-              table_text= table_text.replace(/<a[^>]*>|<\/a>/g, ""); //removes links embedded in <td>
-              table_text= table_text.replace(/<img[^>]*>/gi,"");  //removes images embeded in <td>
-              table_text= table_text.replace(/<input[^>]*>|<\/input>/gi, ""); //removes input tag elements
+            // Use jQuery selector engine Sizzle when available
+            var jQuery = window.jQuery || 'undefined';
+            if (jQuery !== 'undefined') {
+                if (jQuery(id).length) {
+                    var table = jQuery(id)[0];
+                } else {
+                    var table = jQuery('#' + id)[0];
+                }
+            } else {
+                var table = document.getElementById(id); // Read table using id
+            }
+            /*
+            	Read Table Data and append to table_text
+            */
+
+            for (index = 0; index < table.rows.length; index++) {
+                table_text = table_text + table.rows[index].innerHTML + "</tr>";
+
+            }
+
+            table_text = table_text + "</table>" + append; // table close
+            table_text = table_text.replace(/<a[^>]*>|<\/a>/g, ""); //removes links embedded in <td>
+            table_text = table_text.replace(/<img[^>]*>/gi, ""); //removes images embeded in <td>
+            table_text = table_text.replace(/<input[^>]*>|<\/input>/gi, ""); //removes input tag elements
 
-              var userAgent = window.navigator.userAgent; //check client user agent to determine browser
-              var msie = userAgent.indexOf("MSIE "); // If it is Internet Explorer user Aget will have string MSIE
-			  
-			 if (msie > 0 || !!navigator.userAgent.match(/Trident.*rv\:11\./))      // If Internet Explorer
-              {
-				  //Since IE > 10 supports blob, check for blob support and use if we can
-			  if (typeof Blob !== "undefined") {
-					//Bolb Data is ArrayStorage, convert to array
-					table_text = [table_text];
+            var userAgent = window.navigator.userAgent; //check client user agent to determine browser
+            var msie = userAgent.indexOf("MSIE "); // If it is Internet Explorer user Aget will have string MSIE
+
+            if (msie > 0 || !!navigator.userAgent.match(/Trident.*rv\:11\./)) // If Internet Explorer
+            {
+                //Since IE > 10 supports blob, check for blob support and use if we can
+                if (typeof Blob !== "undefined") {
+                    //Bolb Data is ArrayStorage, convert to array
+                    table_text = [table_text];
                     var blob = new Blob(table_text);
-                    window.navigator.msSaveBlob(blob, ''+fileName);
-                }
-				else{
-					//If Blob is unsupported, create an iframe in HTML Page, and call that blank iframe
-                    
+                    window.navigator.msSaveBlob(blob, '' + fileName);
+                } else {
+                    //If Blob is unsupported, create an iframe in HTML Page, and call that blank iframe
+
                     textArea.document.open("text/html", "replace");
                     textArea.document.write(table_text);
                     textArea.document.close();
                     textArea.focus();
-                    textArea.document.execCommand("SaveAs", true, fileName); 
-     
-				}
-			  }
-              
-				//Other Browsers		 
-               else  
-				   //Can use below statement if client machine has Excel Application installed
-                   //window.open('data:application/vnd.ms-excel,' + encodeURIComponent(table_text));  
-				   var a = document.createElement('a');
-					//getting data from our div that contains the HTML table
-					var data_type = 'data:application/vnd.ms-excel';
-					var table_div = document.getElementById(id);
-					var table_html = table_div.outerHTML.replace(/ /g, '%20');
-					table_html = table_html.replace(/<a[^>]*>|<\/a>/g, "");
-					a.href = data_type + ', ' + table_html;
-        
-        //setting the file name
-					a.download = ''+fileName;
-        //triggering the function
-					a.click();
-              
-      }
+                    textArea.document.execCommand("SaveAs", true, fileName);
+
+                }
+            }
+
+            //Other Browsers		 
+            else
+                //Can use below statement if client machine has Excel Application installed
+                //window.open('data:application/vnd.ms-excel,' + encodeURIComponent(table_text));  
+                var a = document.createElement('a');
+            //getting data from our div that contains the HTML table
+            var data_type = 'data:application/vnd.ms-excel';
+            if (jQuery !== 'undefined') {
+                if (jQuery(id).length) {
+                    var table_div = jQuery(id)[0];
+                } else {
+                    var table_div = jQuery('#' + id)[0];
+                }
+            } else {
+                var table_div = document.getElementById(id); // Read table using id
+            }
+            var table_html = prepend + table_div.outerHTML + append;
+            table_html = table_html.replace(/ /g, '%20');
+            table_html = table_html.replace(/<a[^>]*>|<\/a>/g, "");
+            a.href = data_type + ', ' + table_html;
+
+            //setting the file name
+            a.download = '' + fileName;
+            //triggering the function
+            a.click();
+            resolve();
+        } catch (err) {
+            reject(err);
+        }
+    });
+
+}
