Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - Boxing in my unique dishwasher

I just bought a new house and all new appliances. Everything looks great except the house didnt have a spot for the dishwasher. I have no room or money to rip out the cabinets so I placed it at the end of my L shaped countertop. The tile is already down in the kitchen and the dishwasher is hooked up and running, my problem is that the dishwasher sits higher than the countertop if I were to place a counter top on top of it. Luckily my parents had an extra piece of countertop that matched my new house, so I went to put it on top of the dishwasher and I noticed a problem. The buttons that I use to turn the dishwasher on (cycles/on off buttons/ etc.) are located on top! If i put a countertop on top of the dishwasher then I wont be able to read the buttons or use them. So I thought I would just move the countertop back far enough to get my fingers underneath it to press the buttons, but the brackets that screw the dishawasher to the countertop are directly above the buttons. I have no idea how to make this work. need suggestions please.

I'd check the manual but I think you operate the buttons with the door open.

I have the same type dishwasher and the buttons are used when you have the door open. After you start it all you can see are the lights under the counter and this is how it is meant to be.