Artifact tags break when working across different InDesign UI languages

[reblou]

For example, “Außertextliches Element” (German) only exports correctly from a German InDesign. Exporting the same tagged file from an English InDesign makes the artifacts visible in PAC, even though other tags (H1, H2, etc.) work consistently across all language versions.

Steps to reproduce:

1. In InDesign with the UI set to English, tag an element as Artifact.
   → Exports correctly, artifact is hidden in PAC.
2. In the German version of InDesign, the equivalent tag is “Außertextliches Element.”
3. Apply this German tag, then export the PDF from the English version of InDesign.
4. Check the PDF with PAC → the artifact becomes visible.

Observed behavior:

• When artifact tags are applied in German but exported from English InDesign, the elements are visible in PAC instead of hidden.
• Artifact tags behave inconsistently between language versions.

Expected behavior:

• Artifact tagging should behave consistently across all InDesign UI languages, the same way structural tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.) already do.
• The UI language should not affect accessibility compliance in exported PDFs.

Impact:

• Our publishing team works across multiple languages (German, English, Spanish, and French).
• Some colleagues cannot set their UI to German but still need to produce compliant German-language PDFs.
• This inconsistency causes avoidable accessibility errors and slows down production workflows.

[reblou]

In addition, this issue is predominantly for Paragraph-Style Tags; Object-Style tags seem to function from time to time.

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @reblou,

Thanks for explaining the issue so clearly. To help us investigate further, could you share the version of InDesign, details of the OS and a small sample file along with a screen recording/screenshot that shows how you are tagging the element and then exporting from both the German and English versions? This will allow me to bring your exact workflow to the team and check why the artifact tag is not preserved in this scenario. You can share the file via any of the ublic cloud sharing services like Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. If confidential, share it via DM on the community. 

Looking forward to your update.

Abhishek