Many of the above answers only work on form elements. A simple way to disable any DIV including its contents is to just disable mouse interaction. For example:

$("#mydiv").addClass("disabledbutton");

css

.disabledbutton {
    pointer-events: none;
    opacity: 0.4;
}

Many of the above answers only work on form elements. A simple way to disable any DIV including its contents is to just disable mouse interaction. For example:

$("#mydiv").addClass("disabledbutton");

CSS

.disabledbutton {
    pointer-events: none;
    opacity: 0.4;
}

Supplement:

Many commented like these: "This will only disallow mouse events, but the control is still enabled" and "you can still navigate by keyboard". You Could add this code to your script and inputs can't be reached in other ways like keyboard tab. You could change this code to fit your needs.

$([Parent Container]).find('input').each(function () {
     $(this).attr('disabled', 'disabled');
 });