jQuery $el.trigger('change') doesn't fire native listeners

Answer 1

This article gives a good overview of the topic:

Triggering Event Handlers

Basically, trigger will only fire event handlers attached through jQuery or certain event handler attributes in the html.

You can define a plugin to trigger a native browser event like this:

(function($) {

    $.fn.trigger2 = function(eventName) {
        return this.each(function() {
            var el = $(this).get(0);
            triggerNativeEvent(el, eventName);
        });
    };

    function triggerNativeEvent(el, eventName){
      if (el.fireEvent) { // < IE9
        (el.fireEvent('on' + eventName));
      } else {
        var evt = document.createEvent('Events');
        evt.initEvent(eventName, true, false);
        el.dispatchEvent(evt);
      }
}

}(jQuery)); 

// sample usage
$('select').trigger2('change');

This is not perfect but should give you the general idea.

Here's an update to your fiddle using this plugin.