website functionality affected by cookies? plug-ins? firewall?

[PJS]

I used to be able to use various shopping websites (Land's End, Nordstrom, etc.) without a problem. Recently I tightened the privacy and security settings on my computer and now these sites no longer work. I can access them, but when I go to choose a size or color, or put an item in my shopping cart, it doesn't work. Is this problem related to cookies, to plug-ins, to the firewall, to other browser settings? I changed a few different settings, so I'm not sure which change might be causing these and similar shopping websites not to work properly.

I'm using an iMac (OSX 10.8.5) running Safari 6.1.6.

Thank you!

 

[cradom]

Those kind of sites wont work unless cookies are enabled, including third party cookies.
Some might not work without flash.

 

[PJS]

Thanks, cradom. I tried enabling the cookies but nothing changed. perhaps it's a flash problem.

 

[ron4mac]

It wouldn't be a flash issue. You need to have javascript enabled.