IE 7 doesn't respect css property outline so you can't remove annoying outline using following css:

* :focus { outline: none; }

But you can remove it using JQuery . Most of sites already have Jquery include so you don't need to add anything except following code.

$("a").each(function() {
  $(this).attr("hideFocus", "true").css("outline", "none");
});

If you're using Mootools or Prototype - you can rewrite this code for these frameworks easily.

And this won't affect your css validation!