Form fields in acordina are not geting validated - jquery-validate

Question

I am using validationEngine for validating form fields. I have tab and inside the tab, I have two accordions. Each accordion has 4 fields. When I submit, only first accordion form fields that are opened are getting validated. Is there any way I can force to validate all the form fields and open all accordions to show the required field message? Thank you!
<div id="tabs-1">
<div id="accordion">
<h3>Select Agent</h3> <!-- First accordion title) -->
<fieldset>
<div>
<label >Agent Name or ID</label>
<input name="insuredFirsName" title="type "Agent name or id "" class="validate[required] text-input" type="text" >
</div>
<label>Age</label>
<input type="text" name="age" value="${ajaxForm.age}" maxlength="3" size="3" class="validate[required] text-input" >
</fieldset>
<h3>Application Details</h3> <!-- Second accordion title) -->
<fieldset>
<div>
<label>Contract State</label>
<select name="State" id="State" class="validate[required]">
<option value="">Choose a State</option>
<option value="IL">Illinois</option>
<option value="MN">Minnesota</option>
<option value="WI">Wisconsin</option>
</select>
</div>
<div>
<label>Application Number :</label>
<input value="" class="validate[required] text-input" type="text" name="req" id="req" />
</div>
<div>
<label>Application Number :</label>
<input value="" class="validate[required] text-input" type="text" name="req1" id="req1" />
</div>
</fieldset>
</div> <!-- Accordion close -->
<html:button property="button1" value ="Submit"></html:button>
</div> <!-- Tab-1 close -->

Answer 1

maybe a little late but I had this same problem, i searched on the internet and found a solution, but this will work for you:
jQuery("#digitale-aanvraag").validationEngine({
validateNonVisibleFields: true,
});
Your fields in an accordion are set to hidden so as default the validator would skip them.
Be aware that if you use this in a wizard, it won't work, because those fields are also hidden...
Anyway, GL!