I am posting this solution hoping that it will help others.
My son dropped his iPhone5C and the screen is cracked. One small area still works, but he couldn't enter his passcode and therefore couldn't sync with iTunes to backup the iPhone before giving it to someone to repair.
I searched online and most people said it couldn't be done. However, in this particular situation I was able to log in. Essentially, I was able to turn on the VoiceOver mode and that allowed me to use the small area of the screen that still functioned. In VoiceOver mode, you swipe left/right to highlight different keys on the screen that can be selected by double-tapping. Step by step, this is what I did:
- Hold Home key to turn on Siri, told Siri to 'Turn on VoiceOver'
- Press Home key to get to main unlock screen
- Swipe right/left until 'Slide to Unlock' is selected
- Double tap
Now the passcode page comes up
- Swipe right/left to highlight the correct keys on the keyboard and double tap to 'enter' each one.
- Swipe to highlight enter/done and double tap to submit the passcode.
Once the iPhone was unlocked, the first thing I did was backup the phone and download all the photos.
Hope this helps people.
Phil