Update
The start button does not feel any different than the other buttons when I press it, but the good news is the dishwasher still works on the delay feature...for now. It is probably not a long-term fix, but it will buy me some time until I can get another dishwasher.
I'm not sure whether it's the touchpad, control board or both. The ribbon looked OK. Either way, it seems like it will be more than half of what I paid, and it's not that great of a dishwasher anyway. Cascade Fryer Boil Out is the only thing that kept me from tossing it before now.
This dishwasher with electronics lasted about half as long as my old Maytag (too bad I didn't know then what I know now or maybe I could have fixed the Maytag one). But, hey. It is saving energy for the amount of time it works, right? However, that is if you consider cycle only. I probably shouldn't mention the gallons or water used to rinse the dishes clean before placing them in the dishwasher that doesn't actually clean dirty dishes (in the old days we just scraped the food off in the trash and put them straight in the dishwasher, having to run multiple cycles, or that it ended up in the landfill twice as quick.