aria-label usage in table cells

I am testing a data table with static text in <TD> followed by a red color
text indicator. For some reason, our developers have used title attributes
on <td> in hopes of making the info accessible, not knowing that title
attributes will be voiced (at least by JAWS when properly configured) on
links, form controls, images, etc., but not on static text. Here is an
example code:
<TD title="Process Step of xxxxxxx is DETERMINATION REVIEW"
headers=processStepHdr align=middle>DETERMINATION REVIEW <FONT
class=pending title="This case is in Diary.">D</FONT> </TD>
JAWS 13 [IE8] announces "Determination review D"
A few things like the deprecated font tag and an over dependence on title
attributes may be an affront to some, but that's how it is. My question is:
can aria-label attribute or any other technique be used to convey an
updated value / indicator (case in diary; not in diary, etc.) within a data
cell without changing the look and feel?
Thanks,
Devarshi