Problem selecting text on webpages following this weeks release of Safari 14 for Mac

Before this week's release of Safari 14, I had no problem with selecting text on webpages. I would make sure that QuickNav was turned off; place the VoiceOver cursor at the beginning of the text that I wanted to select; and then use the appropriate combinations of Shift, Control, Option, Command, and the arrow keys to select the desired characters, words, lines, or paragraphs.

None of this now seems to work.

As soon as I try to select text, VoiceOver focus moves elsewhere on the webpage.

I've tried interacting with the block of text first, but with the same results.

Am I going crazy? Have others seen the same? Is there a solution? So many questions for one frustrated VoiceOver user ☹️