i had the same problem before, i have ended up with the following function.the first parameter is for the element to check, the second is to check if the element is partially in-view.it is for vertical check only, you can extend it to check for horizontal scroll.

function checkInView(elem,partial)

{

    var container = $(.scrollable);

    var contHeight = container.height();

    var contTop = container.scrollTop();

    var contBottom = contTop + contHeight ;



    var elemTop = $(elem).offset().top - container.offset().top;

    var elemBottom = elemTop + $(elem).height();



    var isTotal = (elemTop >= 0 && elemBottom <=contHeight);

    var isPart = ((elemTop < 0 && elemBottom > 0 ) || (elemTop > 0 && elemTop <= container.height())) && partial ;



    return  isTotal  || isPart ;

}

check it on jsFiddle .