Can't find the error–Browser compatability with links

On my site page here here: https://bananerd.com/test/ugr/public_html/home/ and all of the links work fine except in IE8 and lower the sidebar links/the news category links at the bottom aren’t working. I have run it through https://www.walidator.com/

Because it’s only the Category links, I’m led to believe the troublesome mark up is either in the sidebar code or my category display code. Despite walidator’s suggestions, I really can’t figure out what’s wrong with the code.

This is the HomePage code

<?php

/**

 * Template Name: Home Page

 */

get_header(); ?>

<div class="clearfix">

  <div class="grid_8">

  	<div class="home-page-content">

	  <?php the_content(); ?>

	</div>

	<?php if ( ! dynamic_sidebar( '1st Home Area' ) ) : ?>

	<!--Widgetized '1st Home Area' for the home page-->

      <?php endif; ?>

  </div>

  <div class="grid_4">

    <aside id="right-area">

      <div class="inner">

	<?php if ( ! dynamic_sidebar( '2nd Home Area' ) ) : ?>

	<!--Widgetized '2nd Home Area' for the home page-->

      <?php endif; ?>

      </div>

    </aside>

  </div>

This is the category code

<?php get_header(); ?>

<div id="content" class="grid_8 <?php echo of_get_option('blog_sidebar_pos') ?>">

  <h1><?php printf( __( 'Category: %s' ), '<span>' . single_cat_title( '', false ) . '</span>' ); ?></h1>

  <?php echo category_description(); /* displays the category's description from the WordPress admin */ ?>

  <?php if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>

    <article id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>" <?php post_class('post-holder'); ?>>

      <?php if(has_post_thumbnail()) {

				echo '<figure class="featured-thumbnail"><span class="img-wrap"><a href="'; the_permalink(); echo '">';

				echo the_post_thumbnail();

				echo '</a></span></figure>';

				}

			?>

<header class="entry-header">

          <h2><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" title="<?php the_title(); ?>" rel="bookmark"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h2>

          <?php $post_meta = of_get_option('post_meta'); ?>

					<?php if ($post_meta=='true' || $post_meta=='') { ?>

            <div class="post-meta">

              <div class="fleft"><time datetime="<?php the_time('Y-m-d\TH:i'); ?>"><?php the_time('d-m-Y'); ?></time><?php the_author_posts_link() ?><?php comments_popup_link('0', '1', '%', 'comments-link', 'Comments are closed'); ?></div>

            </div><!--.post-meta-->

          <?php } ?>		

        </header>			

      <div class="post-content">

        <?php $post_excerpt = of_get_option('post_excerpt'); ?>

        <?php if ($post_excerpt=='true' || $post_excerpt=='') { ?>

          <div class="excerpt"><?php $excerpt = get_the_excerpt(); echo my_string_limit_words($excerpt,33);?></div>

        <?php } ?>

        <a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" class="button"><?php _e('more', 'theme1571'); ?></a>

      </div>

    </article>

  <?php endwhile; else: ?>

    <div class="no-results">

    	<?php echo '<p><strong>' . __('There has been an error.', 'theme1571') . '</strong></p>'; ?>

      <p><?php _e('We apologize for any inconvenience, please', 'theme1571'); ?> <a href="<?php bloginfo('url'); ?>/" title="<?php bloginfo('description'); ?>"><?php _e('return to the home page', 'theme1571'); ?></a> <?php _e('or use the search form below.', 'theme1571'); ?></p>

      <?php get_search_form(); /* outputs the default WordPress search form */ ?>

    </div><!--no-results-->

  <?php endif; ?>

  <?php if ( $wp_query->max_num_pages > 1 ) : ?>

    <nav class="oldernewer">

      <div class="older">

        <?php next_posts_link( __('&laquo; Older Entries', 'theme1571')) ?>

      </div><!--.older-->

      <div class="newer">

        <?php previous_posts_link(__('Newer Entries &raquo;', 'theme1571')) ?>

      </div><!--.newer-->

    </nav><!--.oldernewer-->

  <?php endif; ?>

</div><!--#content-->

Any help is much appreciated!