Description of the issue:
With shields DOWN, the site opens to new users with a masking DIV and a dialog for accepting and rejecting cookies. With shields UP, the site opens with just the masking DIV, no method for removing it, and no way to click links on the page.
Exact URL of the website in question:
Screenshot of the ad as it appears in Brave:
With shields UP
I right-clicked on that “ad”, and in the little pop-down window, I scrolled down to, and selected, “Inspect” - that launched the Developer Tools Window > Elements . . .
That “ad” as you say, appears to be a navigation aid:
The problem element is modal_mask. Its sibling element cookies_disclaimer is hidden by a user agent stylesheet which I assume is injected by the shields, but the modal on which the cookie disclaimer sits is unaffected by the shield, thus rendering the page unusable. It’s easy to work around, I just thought it would be worth reporting.